“By having Cardinal Mahony ceremonially close Pope Francis’s casket, the Catholic Church has chosen to let a known enabler of abuse perform one last act of cover-up,” Peter Isely, a founder of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said in a statement.

Potentially more troubling than Erdő’s silences about public issues are signs of past mishandling of allegations of child sexual abuse by clergy…Last month, Snap (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests) lodged a complaint with the Vatican alleging that Erdő’s conduct in the matter had “harmed the vulnerable and caused scandal” in breach of the church’s own legal code.

Days like this may show the Catholic Church at its best, but they're agonizing for those who've experienced it at its very worst, survivors of the clerical sexual abuse scandal who feel the Pope let them down. “It's hard to see the celebration ongoing or behind behind us right now of the Pope's life and legacy when he was so inattentive to what survivors needed and unresponsive to the demand for zero tolerance.”

[SNAP] wants abusive clergy — and church leaders who’ve covered up their crimes — to be ejected from the ministry. It also wants more oversight of bishops.“ (The next pope) must use his authority to enact fundamental, institutional changes to end the systematic practice of sexual abuse and its concealment.”

And “trying” isn’t good enough for SNAP, the group says. As Ms. Pearson bluntly put it: “Too many popes have promised change. This time, we want receipts.” SNAP has filed formal “Vos estis lux mundi” complaints — the Vatican’s internal accountability process — against seven U.S. cardinals, alleging they mishandled abuse cases or protected abusers.

Shaun Dougherty, an American who is the board president of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, said that abuse “is the single biggest issue in the church today.” “They are still more willing to protect their church and themselves than the innocent,” he said.

“We are preparing for the next conclave in the hopes to educate the public who should definitely not be elected the next pope,” Dougherty said. Conclave Watch was recently launched when Dougherty and SNAP Global Policy Working Group members went to Rome and Vatican City to meet with church leaders and the global press that gathered in the anticipation of Francis’ possible death.

The US-based SNAP organization, made up of survivors of sexual abuse by priests, issued a statement Monday stating that "due to his history of covering up abuse in Argentina, Francis never had the credibility necessary to review the Vatican's handling of sexual abuse cases" and that, in anticipation of the new Conclave, "we do not need another pope who has covered up sexual crimes."

“Until…abusers are mandated to be removed from ministry, these types of things will keep happening…what can be done is for the Catholic church to institute a new law that’s a mechanism that mandates that…any perpetrators have to be permanently removed from ministry.”

"None of Francis’ reforms or initiatives have produced actual 'zero tolerance' for abuse or ended the culture of extreme secrecy and control that enables it," SNAP said in a statement. "The next pope must institute a zero tolerance law for sexual abuse that immediately removes abusive clergy and leaders who have covered up abuse from ministry and mandates independent oversight of bishops…He must use his authority to enact fundamental, institutional changes to end the systematic practice of sexual abuse and its concealment."

The group launched “Conclave Watch,” a website tracking papal candidates, including their records on reporting sexual abuse within the church. “When white smoke emerges from the Sistine Chapel, the new pontiff will have no credibility with survivors if he has a history of having enabled sexual abuse by concealing it from the public and allowing perpetrators to remain in ministry in any capacity,” SNAP said.

“Anybody who could be considered for pope has to…be…scrutinized over the questions, not just their own, perhaps, failures humanly, personally as themselves, that are crimes, but especially bishops who covered up the sex abuse of other priests or were not sensitive to the sufferings of the victims. So, I think that will certainly be, for the first time, probably, a critical question that will be examined in the conclave.”

“Francis began his papacy by promising us and the world that he would put an end to clergy abuse and cover-up. If we had known then what we know now — that he himself covered up sexual crimes in Argentina before becoming pope and that, for twelve years, he failed to use his authority to implement a universal zero-tolerance policy — we would have felt very differently.”

Sarah Pearson, spokesperson for Survivors Network of those abused by Priests (SNAP), told the Daily Mail that she, too, found it 'pretty hard to believe' that Farrell had no clue about the McCarrick allegations, describing Farrell's proclaimed ignorance as 'implausible'.

[Pearson] and other victims’ advocates from SNAP will travel to Rome today to urge cardinals to pick someone who will prioritize accountability for abusers. SNAP has launched Conclave Watch, a database that tracks possible successors’ records on sex abuse.

"He had an opportunity to atone for his actions by doing what survivors have been demanding for years: enact a binding and universal zero tolerance law in the Catholic Church which would mean immediately removing all known abusers from ministry. He failed to do this. As a result, thousands of vulnerable people have been abused. This painful legacy cannot be ignored."

“A month from today, we don’t want any other survivor to wake up and realize that someone who chose to protect their abuser is the next leader of the Catholic Church,” said Sarah Pearson, the organization's spokesperson.

“This is the third pope in modern times since this issue has become public … thanks to survivors decades ago,” Isely said. “Each one of those popes, including Francis, covered up sex crimes before they became pope. I’m not speculating here. This is demonstrable and proven. Unfortunately, we only found out about that after they became pope.”

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests says the pope failed to put in place needed reforms like a zero tolerance law for churches all over the world: “What we need is a mechanism that we call ‘zero tolerance’ that would be a worldwide policy that says if you’ve abused somebody, you have to be permanently out of ministry.”

“We chose to announce seven new complaints on U.S. cardinals at Seton Hall because of the ongoing catastrophe that only continues because Cardinal Tobin refuses to do the right thing: come clean about what happened, release the report from the 2019 investigation, and make the necessary corrections to ensure what happened in the past can never happen again,” Pearson said.