People who endured abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope following their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the pontiff's decision to meet with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to addressing the issue.
Global Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The organization is pushing for a global zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any clergy member who admits to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This approach has been implemented in the United States.
The Pope recognized that there is "resistance in certain regions of the world" to this proposal, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is pushback," Hickey remarked.
Inherited Challenge
The current pontiff, who assumed the position in spring, has inherited this persistent problem that has haunted the Catholic Church for decades.
Earlier attempts to address the problem included an historic summit on paedophilia within the Church and revisions to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For Hickey, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the measure is personal. The North American activist shared they were victimized by a priest who was subsequently moved between various churches.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we aim to collaborate with him," they expressed. "We have the same goal, we want to end abuse by religious officials."
Historic Encounter
Seven representatives of the coalition, which represents survivors and advocates from over thirty nations, met with the Pope in his official residence.
The meeting, initially planned for a brief period, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The Pope was characterized as "quite empathetic" when listening to the account of a woman victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.
They noted the Pope was "compassionate" about their own story and appeared "very humble, funny, and approachable."
"Victims have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," they stated. "I felt like he was genuine, realistic, and receptive and eager to work with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The organization is hoping that changes to church regulations will enable the implementation of the strict approach worldwide.
They have consulted specialists and gathered materials that they plan to present to Pope Leo.
"He seemed engaged in reviewing it," Hickey noted.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recent Vatican-commissioned report emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or removal of religious officials or personnel in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The document also pointed out that survivors consistently emphasized the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be held accountable for inaction and concealment."
Moving Forward
The representative revealed they informed the Pope at the start of their discussion: "This is as much a challenge for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."
After the meeting, they voiced optimism for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, uniting and establishing a relationship and continuing to build that bond is a move in the right direction," they stated.
Hickey added that they told with the pontiff: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can change how the story ends - he valued that."
