People who endured abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism following their initial encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the pontiff's choice to engage with them so soon in his papacy sent a strong message about his commitment to addressing the problem.
Global Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The group is pushing for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is found guilty of abusing a minor. This policy has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "opposition in certain regions of the globe" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey stated.
Inherited Challenge
The new Pope, who assumed the role in spring, has inherited this longstanding problem that has haunted the Church for many years.
Previous efforts to address the situation included an historic meeting on child abuse within the Church and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For Hickey, 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 subsequently moved between various churches.
"We trust this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey expressed. "Both sides share the common objective, we seek to eliminate clergy abuse."
Historic Encounter
Multiple representatives of the organization, which includes victims and supporters from more than 30 nations, engaged with the Pope in his official residence.
The discussion, originally scheduled 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 hearing the story of a female survivor victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.
They noted 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, practical, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Canon Law Changes
The group is advocating that revisions to church regulations will enable the adoption of the strict approach globally.
They have consulted experts and compiled materials that they plan to present to the pontiff.
"He appeared interested in looking at it," Hickey remarked.
Accountability Emphasized
A recent Vatican-commissioned report highlighted the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or removal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The report also pointed out that victims repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be held accountable for inaction and concealment."
Path Ahead
Hickey shared they informed the pontiff at the beginning of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the meeting, they expressed optimism for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, uniting and building a connection and continuing to strengthen that relationship is a step in the right direction," they commented.
They concluded that they shared with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can alter how the narrative concludes - he valued that."
