A coalition of survivors of clergy sexual abuse demanded Wednesday that cardinals entering the conclave to elect a successor to Pope Francis pick a pope who will adopt a universal zero-tolerance policy for abuse and himself has a clean record handling cases.
The group End Clergy Abuse issued an open letter to the cardinals who are meeting informally this week before the start of the May 7 conclave. SNAP, the main US-based survivor group, also identified cardinals who themselves have problematic records in a new database, highlighting a new level of scrutiny of all possible contenders for the papacy.
The developments come amid real questions about how prominent the abuse scandal is featuring in the discussions about finding a new pope. After two decades of unrelenting revelations about abuse and cover-up that have discredited the Catholic hierarchy, many church leaders would like to think the issue is in the past, the survivors said.
“The sexual abuse crisis is not a matter of the past. It is present. And nowhere is its devastation more visible than in the Global South,” the survivors said in the open letter.
ECA and SNAP have called for the Catholic Church to adopt a zero-tolerance policy that a priest will be permanently removed from church ministry based on even a single act of sexual abuse that is either admitted to or established according to church law. That is the policy in the US church, adopted at the height of the US scandal in 2002, but it is by no means embraced elsewhere.
The issue is playing out in real time in Rome as the cardinals gather: Peruvian Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne, 81, has been seen in full cardinal garb entering and exiting Vatican City, despite being under Vatican sanction for allegedly abusing a minor. Cipriani is not allowed in the conclave itself because he is over 80, but he has been participating in the pre-conclave meetings this week.
The Vatican in January confirmed that disciplinary sanctions were in effect against Cipriani, the first-ever cardinal from Opus Dei, following accusations of sexual abuse. The sanctions included requiring him to leave Peru and included restrictions on his public activity and use of insignia. The Vatican said he was allowed to deviate from them on some occasions.
Asked why Cipriani was presenting himself as a cardinal and participating, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the Vatican regulations concerning the pre-conclave meetings are clear. The rules, he said, all cardinals must participate unless they have “legitimate impediments,” which involve “personal or physical questions.”
Cipriani, who lives in Madrid and Rome, has called the allegations “completely false.”
Bruni said the issue of abuse was discussed this week by cardinals in the pre-conclave discussions, among other challenges facing the church.
SNAP earlier this year launched an online initiative, Conclave Watch, to provide information about individual cardinals and their records. The group says since the launch, survivors from Fiji, Tonga, Belgium, France, South Africa, Malawi, France, Italy, Canada and the US have gotten in touch with additional information.
The initiative vets cardinals who are considered contenders for the papacy on their records handling sexual abuse cases, including whether they were involved in covering up cases, as well as their acceptance of a zero-tolerance law that SNAP and ECA have proposed.
“Abuse survivors do not want to see another conclave that elects a pope who has shielded and covered up for clergy offenders,” said Sarah Pearson, a SNAP spokesperson.

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Three Indian-origin people were found dead after a shooting at a home in the U.S. State of Washington, according to local media reports. The incident took place on April 24 in Newcastle city.

The dead were identified as Harshavardhana Kikkeri, 44, Shwetha Panyam, 41, and Dhruva Kikkeri, 14, The Seattle Times newspaper reported on Tuesday (April 29, 2025).

While the deaths of Shwetha and Dhruva were ruled as homicide by the police, Harshavardhana died by suicide, the report quoted the King County medical examiner’s office as saying.

Neighbours told the KOMO News that a young family lived in the home where the shooting took place.

On the night of the shooting, authorities were called to the townhouse on 129th Street after receiving a 911 call. The KING 5 television station said its crew saw a child being escorted from the home and comforted by investigators.

Owners of Holoworld

Reports said Harshavardhana, alongside Shwetha, was the owner of an India-based AI tech company Holoworld. 

According to the company’s website, it was founded in 2018 by the two, with Harshavardhana serving as the CEO and CTO, and Shwetha as president.

King County sheriff’s spokesperson Brandyn Hull said she could not comment on whether the case was believed to be a murder-suicide.

“We understand many questions remain about the events that took place in Newcastle on April 24,” Hull was quoted as saying by Renton Reporter newspaper. “An investigation such as this takes time, and our detectives are working diligently to try and piece together what led to this incident. Until this work concludes, the Sheriff’s Office won’t have any further updates.”

No sign of the deaths’ motive or relationships among the deceased was released by the sheriff’s office, according to the report.