People who endured sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have voiced fresh optimism following their first meeting with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
Gemma Hickey, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the Pope's decision to engage with them so soon in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to tackling the problem.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The group is advocating for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a minor. This policy has already been adopted in the US.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "opposition in some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is resistance," Hickey stated.
Inherited Challenge
The current pontiff, who took the position in May, has taken on this longstanding problem that has haunted the Catholic Church for many years.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the Church and revisions to church laws to clearly outlaw abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the policy is deeply meaningful. The Canadian activist shared they were abused by a clergy member who was later moved between different parishes.
"We trust this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we aim to collaborate with him," Hickey expressed. "We have the common objective, we seek to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Significant Encounter
Multiple members of the organization, which represents victims and supporters from over thirty nations, met with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The discussion, initially planned for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was characterized as "quite empathetic" when hearing the story of a woman abused at a church-run institution for Indigenous children in North America.
Hickey added the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal experience and appeared "very humble, funny, and approachable."
"Survivors have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," they stated. "I believed like he was sincere, practical, and very open and eager to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The group is hoping that revisions to church regulations will facilitate the adoption of the strict approach worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and compiled materials that they plan to present to the pontiff.
"He seemed engaged in reviewing it," they noted.
Accountability Emphasized
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document highlighted the "necessity of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or dismissal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The report also noted that victims consistently emphasized the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for inaction and cover-up."
Path Ahead
Hickey shared they told the Pope at the start of their discussion: "This is as much a challenge for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the meeting, they expressed hope for future change.
"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 continuing to strengthen that relationship is a move in the right direction," they commented.
Hickey concluded that they told with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a difficult period, I feel like we can alter how the narrative concludes - he valued that."
