People who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have voiced fresh optimism after their initial meeting with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
Gemma Hickey, who leads 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 tackling the problem.
Worldwide Strict Policy Advocated
The organization is pushing for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who confesses to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a minor. This approach has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "resistance in some parts of the globe" to this proposal, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey remarked.
Legacy Challenge
The current pontiff, who took the role in spring, has inherited this longstanding issue that has plagued the Catholic Church for many years.
Previous efforts to resolve the problem included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the Church and changes to church laws to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the measure is personal. The North American advocate shared they were victimized by a clergy member who was subsequently moved between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we aim to work with him," Hickey expressed. "Both sides share the same goal, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Significant Encounter
Multiple members of the coalition, which represents victims and supporters from over thirty nations, met with the Pope in his Vatican office.
The discussion, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was described as "quite empathetic" 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 "very humble, humorous, and approachable."
"Survivors have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," Hickey stated. "I felt like he was genuine, practical, and very open and keen to work with us."
Canon Law Reforms
The organization is hoping that revisions to canon law will enable the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have consulted specialists and gathered documents that they plan to present to Pope Leo.
"He appeared interested in looking at it," Hickey noted.
Accountability Emphasized
A recent Vatican-commissioned report highlighted the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or removal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The report also noted that survivors repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for church leaders and major superiors to be held accountable for negligence and concealment."
Path Ahead
The representative revealed they informed the pontiff at the beginning of their discussion: "This represents as much a challenge for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the meeting, they voiced hope for progress.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, coming together and establishing a connection and continuing to build that relationship is a move in the correct path," they stated.
Hickey concluded that they shared with the pontiff: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can change how the story concludes - he appreciated that."
