People who experienced abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope following their first meeting with the new Pope at the Vatican.
Gemma Hickey, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the Pope's choice to meet with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to tackling the issue.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed
The organization is advocating for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would defrock any priest who admits to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This policy has been implemented in the US.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "opposition in some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is resistance," they stated.
Inherited Challenge
The new Pope, who took the position in spring, has taken on this persistent problem that has haunted the Catholic Church for many years.
Previous efforts to address the situation included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the institution and changes to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For the representative, who uses they/them pronouns, the campaign 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 various churches.
"We trust this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey expressed. "We have the common objective, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."
Historic Meeting
Seven members of the organization, which represents survivors and supporters from more than 30 countries, met with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The discussion, 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 characterized as "very understanding" when hearing the account of a woman victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in Canada.
They noted the leader was "compassionate" about their own experience and appeared "modest, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't feel 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."
Canon Law Changes
The organization is advocating that changes to church regulations will facilitate the implementation of the strict approach globally.
They have consulted specialists and gathered documents that they will submit to Pope Leo.
"He seemed engaged in reviewing it," they noted.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document highlighted the "necessity of a efficient process 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 consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and senior officials to be held accountable for inaction and cover-up."
Moving Forward
Hickey revealed they told the Pope at the start of their meeting: "This represents as much a risk for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
Following the meeting, Hickey voiced optimism for progress.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, coming together and building a connection and continuing to strengthen that bond is a move in the right direction," they commented.
Hickey added that they told with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can alter how the story ends - he appreciated that."
