Individuals who endured abuse by Catholic clergy have voiced renewed hope after their initial encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the Pope's decision to engage with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to addressing the issue.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Advocated
The organization is pushing 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 recognized 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 remarked.
Legacy Challenge
The new Pope, who took the position in spring, has inherited this persistent problem that has plagued the Catholic Church for decades.
Earlier attempts to resolve the problem included an historic summit on child abuse within the Church and revisions to church laws to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For the representative, who prefers they/them pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the policy is deeply meaningful. The North American advocate shared they were abused by a clergy member who was later moved between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey expressed. "We have the common objective, we seek to end clergy abuse."
Historic Encounter
Seven members of the coalition, which includes survivors and supporters from over thirty countries, engaged with the Pope in his Vatican office.
The meeting, initially planned for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was described as "very understanding" when hearing the story of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in Canada.
Hickey added the leader was "compassionate" about their own story and seemed "modest, funny, and approachable."
"Survivors have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," they stated. "I felt like he was sincere, realistic, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The organization is advocating that changes to canon law will enable the implementation of the strict approach globally.
They have spoken with specialists and gathered documents that they will present to Pope Leo.
"He seemed engaged in reviewing it," they remarked.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released church-ordered report highlighted the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the resignation and/or dismissal of religious officials or personnel in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The document also noted that victims repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for bishops and major superiors to be held accountable for inaction and concealment."
Moving Forward
Hickey revealed they told the Pope at the start of their meeting: "This is as much a challenge for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the meeting, Hickey voiced optimism for progress.
"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, uniting and establishing a connection and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a step in the right direction," they stated.
Hickey added that they told with the pontiff: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can change how the story concludes - he valued that."
