People who endured abuse by church officials have voiced fresh optimism after their initial meeting with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
Gemma Hickey, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the Pope's choice to meet with them so early in his papacy spoke volumes about his commitment to addressing the problem.
Global Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The organization is advocating for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is proven of sexually abusing a minor. This policy has been implemented in the United States.
The Pontiff recognized that there is "resistance in certain regions of the world" to this proposal, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is pushback," they stated.
Legacy Challenge
The new Pope, who took the role in spring, has inherited this longstanding issue that has plagued the Church for decades.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an historic meeting on paedophilia within the Church and revisions to church laws to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For Hickey, who uses they/them pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the policy is personal. The Canadian activist revealed they were victimized by a clergy member who was later transferred between various churches.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we want to work with him," they stated. "We have the common objective, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Seven members of the coalition, which represents victims and supporters from over thirty countries, engaged with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The pontiff was characterized as "very understanding" when listening to the account of a female survivor victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.
Hickey noted the leader was "tender" about their personal story and seemed "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Victims have consistently sought a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," Hickey commented. "I believed like he was sincere, practical, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The organization is advocating that revisions to canon law will facilitate the implementation of the strict approach worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and compiled documents that they will submit to the pontiff.
"He seemed engaged in looking at it," Hickey remarked.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released church-ordered report highlighted the "importance of a efficient process for the resignation and/or dismissal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The report also pointed out that victims consistently emphasized the "urgent need for church leaders and senior officials to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."
Path Ahead
The representative revealed they told the Pope at the start of their meeting: "This represents as much a challenge for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the encounter, Hickey expressed hope for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, uniting and building a connection and continuing to strengthen that relationship is a step in the right direction," they commented.
Hickey concluded that they shared with the pontiff: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can change how the narrative ends - he valued that."
