CHICLAYO, Peru -- Pope Leo XIV's successor as bishop of Chiclayo in northern Peru on Friday rejected allegations that the new pontiff ever covered up cases of sexual abuse within the diocese.

Chiclayo bishop Edison Farfan told reporters that Leo had "listened (to the victims) and respected the procedures" of the Church.

The new pope had been "the most sensitive of all within the Peruvian church" to the issue of sexual abuse, Farfan added.

The US-born pontiff was bishop of the coastal city from 2015 to 2023, when he was made a cardinal and moved to Rome.

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Two victim advocacy groups questioned Leo XIV's commitment to addressing sexual violence in the church after he was announced Thursday.

Victims' rights group, Bishop Accountability, has also questioned the US-born pontiff's commitment to lifting the lid on the scourge of clerical abuse.

The group's co-director Anne Barrett Doyle noted that Leo had "released no names" of abusers, whether as head of the Augustinian order, bishop of Chiclayo or most recently, as head of the powerful Dicastery for Bishops, advising his predecessor Francis on the appointment of bishops.

She labelled his alleged inaction in Chiclayo, where she said two priests had been accused of sexual abuse, as "most disturbing."

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), also issued a statement after his election as pope calling on Leo XIV to take action to support victims of sexual violence.

In 2022, a priest in the diocese was accused of having sexually assaulted at least three girls.

The diocese's head of communications, Fiel Purizaca, told AFP that the priest targeted by the abuse allegations was "immediately sent home."

Farfan said the allegations were an attempt to "discredit" the new pontiff and were "false." Farfan said the church was still investigating the abuse claims.

© Agence France-Presse