Another US cardinal who is expected to attend the March conclave, Justin Francis Rigali, resigned as Philadelphia archbishop for age reasons.
But activists say the resignation was in fact linked to a wide-ranging scandal in the city involving 37 priests for which an underling took the fall.
Another of the 117 cardinal electors who can vote on a new pope is Belgian Godfried Danneels, who had computer files seized at his home three years ago over suspicion that he may have helped cover up hundreds of abuse cases.
Irish cardinal Sean Brady has faced resignation calls from campaigners for allegedly failing to stop a serial abuser, saying he was not senior enough when he took part in a Church investigation of the priest in the 1970s.
The Vatican has taken a number of recent initiatives, including an unprecedented conference at the Gregorian University in Rome last year which brought together victims, bishops from around the world and psychologists.
The Vatican in 2011 also called on bishops’ conferences around the world to come up with guidelines on how to deal with abuse, but not all countries have responded and there is concern that countless abuses remain hidden.
“Benedict XVI was very courageous in breaking the wall of silence that covered many cases,” said Maltese bishop Charles Scicluna, formerly the Vatican’s chief prosecutor against abuses.
Victims groups have made demands that sound radical for a 2,000-year-old institution known for its secrecy and rigid hierarchy.
SNAP says the Vatican could publish the names of predatory priests on the Internet or order bishops to report all cases of sexual abuse to the police.
Robert Hoatson, head of the US group Road to Recovery, says if eradicating abuse “means firing all the bishops that have covered up, so be it.”
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