People who endured sexual abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism following their first encounter with Pope Leo 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 addressing the problem.
Worldwide Strict Approach Advocated
The group is pushing for a global zero-tolerance policy that would defrock any clergy member who admits to or is found guilty of abusing a child. This policy has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pope recognized that there is "opposition in some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is pushback," Hickey remarked.
Inherited Issue
The current pontiff, who took the role in May, has taken on this longstanding issue that has haunted the Church for many years.
Earlier attempts to resolve the situation included an unprecedented meeting on paedophilia within the Church and changes to canon law to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For the representative, who uses they/them 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 various churches.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we want to collaborate with him," they stated. "Both sides share the common objective, we want to end abuse by religious officials."
Historic Meeting
Multiple representatives of the organization, which includes survivors and advocates from over thirty nations, met with the Pope in his official residence.
The discussion, initially planned for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The pontiff was characterized as "very understanding" when listening to the account of a woman victimized at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.
Hickey noted the Pope was "tender" about their personal experience and appeared "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Victims have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," Hickey commented. "I felt like he was genuine, practical, and receptive and eager to work with us."
Canon Law Reforms
The group is advocating that revisions to church regulations will enable the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have spoken with specialists and compiled materials that they plan to present to the pontiff.
"He appeared engaged in reviewing it," Hickey remarked.
Accountability Highlighted
A recently released church-ordered report highlighted the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or removal of religious officials or staff in cases of abuse or negligence."
The report also pointed out that survivors repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Moving Forward
Hickey shared they told the Pope at the beginning of their meeting: "This is as much a challenge for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the meeting, Hickey voiced hope for progress.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, coming together and establishing a relationship and persisting to build that bond is a move in the correct path," they stated.
Hickey added that they told with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can change how the narrative concludes - he valued that."
