‍

‍

Dear Pope Leo XIV,

On September 30, 2024, Rachel Mastrogiacomo and I sent an email containing open letters and a YouTube video entitled “The Prayer of the Prey” to your predecessor, Pope Francis, that was opened at 10:35 pm at the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, D.C.  As was reported in “Pope Francis and Vatican Ignore Pleas of Abuse Victims,” we never received a response, either from the nuncio, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, or Pope Francis to whom our open letters/video were addressed.

As reported in the media, “From parishes in Boston and schools in Australia, to orphanages in Ireland and nunneries in Argentina,” the Catholic Church has faced a cascade of sexual abuse allegations. Millions of Catholics have left the Church in recent history, scandalized by your predecessor’s failure to enact a universal zero tolerance law for abuse and cover-ups. Tragically, countless clerical abuse victims have become alcoholics, drug addicts, and have committed suicide, often after having been revictimized by abuse reporting procedures like Vos estis lux mundi which almost always result in whitewashes where victims’ complaints like mine are fraudulently deemed “unsubstantiated” and predators escape justice.

When a priest, Father Robert McDermott, reported my abuse and had a Vos Estis complaint filed against Omaha Archbishop George Lucas, the enclosed letter to the Archbishop shows how justice is rarely achieved when bishops “investigate” other bishops.

I invite you to read and/or watch our open letters/video to Pope Francis, along with my letter to Archbishop Lucas, and prayerfully decide what our Lord, Jesus Christ, would have you do. Rachel, I, and countless abuse victims around the world eagerly await your response.

‍

Sincerely in Christ,

Lisa Roers

Lisa Roers

Enc: Roers Ltr of May 15, 2025 to Lucas

‍

‍