People who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope after their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
Gemma Hickey, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the Pope's choice to meet with them so soon in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to tackling the issue.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The organization is advocating for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any clergy member who confesses to or is proven of abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the US.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is pushback," Hickey stated.
Inherited Issue
The new Pope, who assumed the position in May, has taken on this persistent problem that has haunted the Catholic Church for many years.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an unprecedented meeting on paedophilia within the institution and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For Hickey, who uses they/them pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the measure is personal. The Canadian advocate revealed they were abused by a clergy member who was later transferred between different parishes.
"We trust this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey stated. "Both sides share the common objective, we seek to end abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Multiple members of the coalition, which represents victims and supporters from over thirty nations, met with the Pope in his Vatican office.
The discussion, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, lasted to a full hour, during which the Pope "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.
The pontiff was described as "quite empathetic" when listening to the account of a female survivor victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in Canada.
They noted the leader was "tender" about their personal story and appeared "modest, funny, and approachable."
"Survivors have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," they commented. "I believed like he was sincere, practical, and receptive and eager to work with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The group is advocating that revisions to canon law will enable the implementation of the strict approach globally.
They have consulted experts and gathered documents that they plan to submit to Pope Leo.
"He seemed interested in reviewing it," Hickey noted.
Responsibility Emphasized
A recently released church-ordered report highlighted the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the resignation and/or dismissal of religious officials or staff in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The document also noted that survivors repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for bishops and senior officials to be held accountable for negligence and concealment."
Moving Forward
The representative shared they told the Pope at the start of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the meeting, they voiced hope for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, uniting and building a relationship and continuing to strengthen that relationship is a move in the right direction," they commented.
They added that they shared with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a difficult period, I believe like we can alter how the story ends - he appreciated that."
