People who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism following their initial encounter with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
Gemma Hickey, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the Pope's choice to engage with them so soon in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to tackling the issue.
Global Strict Policy Pushed
The group is pushing for a global zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the US.
The Pope recognized that there is "opposition in certain regions of the globe" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," they stated.
Inherited Issue
The new Pope, who took the role in spring, has inherited this persistent problem that has haunted the Catholic Church for decades.
Earlier attempts to resolve the problem included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the Church and changes to canon law to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For the representative, who prefers they/them pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The North American advocate revealed they were victimized by a clergy member who was later moved between various churches.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his leadership, because we aim to work with him," they expressed. "Both sides share the common objective, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."
Historic Meeting
Seven members of the organization, which includes survivors and supporters from over thirty countries, met with the Pontiff in his official residence.
The discussion, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The pontiff was characterized as "quite empathetic" when hearing the story of a female survivor victimized at a church-run institution for native youth in Canada.
They noted the Pope was "compassionate" about their own experience and appeared "very humble, humorous, and approachable."
"Survivors have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," Hickey commented. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and keen to work with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The organization is hoping that revisions to church regulations will facilitate the adoption of the strict approach globally.
They have spoken with specialists and compiled documents that they plan to submit to the pontiff.
"He appeared engaged in reviewing it," they noted.
Accountability Highlighted
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document emphasized the "importance of a efficient process for the resignation and/or dismissal of Church leaders or staff in cases of abuse or negligence."
The document also pointed out that victims consistently emphasized the "urgent need for bishops and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."
Path Ahead
Hickey shared they told the Pope at the beginning of their discussion: "This is as much a challenge for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."
Following the meeting, Hickey voiced optimism for progress.
"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, coming together and building a relationship and persisting to build that relationship is a move in the right direction," they stated.
They added that they shared with the pontiff: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the story concludes - he valued that."
