People who experienced abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed renewed hope after their first encounter with the new Pope at the Vatican.
Gemma Hickey, who leads the anti-abuse organization, commented that the pontiff's choice to meet with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to tackling the issue.
Global Strict Policy Pushed
The organization is advocating for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is proven of abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the world" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," they remarked.
Inherited Issue
The new Pope, who took the position in May, has taken on this longstanding problem that has plagued the Church for decades.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the Church and changes to canon law to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For the representative, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the policy is deeply meaningful. The Canadian advocate shared they were abused by a priest who was subsequently moved between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to work with him," Hickey stated. "We have the same goal, we want to end clergy abuse."
Historic Meeting
Seven members of the coalition, which represents survivors and advocates from more than 30 nations, engaged with the Pontiff in his official residence.
The meeting, originally scheduled for a brief period, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The pontiff was characterized as "very understanding" when listening to the story of a female survivor victimized at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in Canada.
They added the Pope was "tender" about their own story and appeared "very humble, humorous, and approachable."
"Victims have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," Hickey stated. "I believed like he was genuine, practical, and very open and eager to work with us."
Canon Law Changes
The group is hoping that changes to church regulations will facilitate the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have consulted experts and compiled materials that they plan to present to Pope Leo.
"He seemed interested in reviewing it," Hickey remarked.
Responsibility Emphasized
A recently released church-ordered document highlighted the "importance of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or dismissal of religious officials or personnel in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The document also noted that survivors repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for church leaders and senior officials to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."
Path Ahead
The representative revealed they informed the Pope at the start of their meeting: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the encounter, Hickey expressed hope for progress.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, coming together and establishing a connection and continuing to strengthen that relationship is a step in the right direction," they stated.
Hickey concluded that they told with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can change how the story ends - he valued that."
