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Image: Emblem of the Holy See and the Papacy; via Wikipedia.
Pope Leo XIV’s first major personnel move has drawn sharp criticism from survivor advocates after the Vatican announced on September 26, 2025, that Archbishop Filippo Iannone, currently prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, will lead the Dicastery for Bishops.
According to a Sept. 26 press release by Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), posted by BishopAccountability.org, Peter Isely, SNAP’s Global Advocacy Chair, said: “Iannone’s promotion sends a chilling message to abuse victims around the world, not only to expect advancement toward zero tolerance to be blocked, but a rollback on the hard-fought progress of clergy abuse survivors and advocates over the years.”
Isely continued, “It was Iannone who shaped the church law on sexual abuse to guarantee that zero tolerance for abusers, and accountability for the bishops who covered it up, would never be included. Leo is putting the oversight and management of bishops in the hands of a man who has fought to enshrine the concealment of abusers in Vatican policy.”
The appointment follows Pope Leo’s first public interview, where he turned the discussion toward concerns over false accusations and priests’ rights and signaled no support for a binding zero tolerance standard that would permanently remove proven abusers from ministry and establish a clear process to hold bishops responsible for enabling or concealing abuse.
During Iannone’s tenure at Legislative Texts, key steps curbed momentum toward zero tolerance, including revising descriptions of criminal abuse in church law in ways that avoided any mandatory rule requiring permanent removal from ministry or the priesthood for clerics proven to have raped or sexually assaulted children or vulnerable adults; instructing bishops earlier this year to avoid publishing information that could harm the reputation or privacy of accused priests, even where the church holds ample evidence of sexual crimes and their concealment; and rejecting a 2021 request from the bishops of England and Wales, made in response to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, to remove canon law language that frames the rape and sexual assault of children as a violation of the Sixth Commandment on adultery, a formulation that has long been criticized for implying child victims are co-conspirators in adultery.
Critics argue that elevating Iannone to one of the Vatican’s most influential departments confirms fears that meaningful reform will not come from within the Holy See and reiterate calls for civil authorities and the international community to require accountability in line with concerns previously raised by United Nations bodies, warning that without external oversight the Vatican will continue to shield perpetrators, deny justice to survivors, and place future generations at risk.
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