People who endured sexual abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope following their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
Gemma Hickey, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the Pope's choice to meet with them so soon in his papacy spoke volumes about his commitment to tackling the issue.
Global Zero-Tolerance Approach Advocated
The group is advocating for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who confesses to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a child. This policy has been implemented in the United States.
The Pope recognized that there is "opposition in some parts of the globe" to this proposal, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is resistance," they remarked.
Legacy Challenge
The new Pope, who assumed the position in spring, has inherited this persistent problem that has plagued the Catholic Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the problem included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the Church and changes to church laws to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For the representative, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the measure is deeply meaningful. The North American activist shared they were abused by a clergy member who was later moved between various churches.
"We trust this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey expressed. "Both sides share the same goal, we want to end clergy abuse."
Significant Meeting
Multiple representatives of the coalition, which represents victims and advocates from over thirty countries, met with the Pope in his Vatican office.
The meeting, originally scheduled for a brief period, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The pontiff was described as "very understanding" when listening to the account of a female survivor abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.
Hickey added the Pope was "compassionate" about their own story and appeared "very humble, funny, and approachable."
"Survivors have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," Hickey commented. "I believed like he was sincere, realistic, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Canon Law Changes
The group is hoping that revisions to canon law will enable the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have spoken with specialists and compiled documents that they will submit to Pope Leo.
"He seemed interested in reviewing it," Hickey noted.
Accountability Emphasized
A recently released church-ordered report emphasized the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or removal of religious officials or personnel in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The document also pointed out that victims repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for bishops and senior officials to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Moving Forward
Hickey revealed they informed the Pope at the beginning of their discussion: "This is as much a challenge for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the encounter, they expressed hope for future change.
"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, coming together and establishing a relationship and continuing to strengthen that bond is a step in the correct path," Hickey commented.
Hickey concluded that they shared with the pontiff: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can change how the narrative concludes - he appreciated that."
