Individuals who endured sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have voiced renewed hope following their first meeting with the new Pope at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, heading the anti-abuse organization, stated that the pontiff's choice to engage with them so early in his papacy sent a strong message about his dedication to tackling the issue.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Advocated
The organization is pushing for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is found guilty of abusing a minor. This approach has been implemented in the United States.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "opposition in certain regions of the world" to this proposal, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey stated.
Inherited Challenge
The new Pope, who took the role in May, has taken on this longstanding problem that has plagued the Catholic Church for many years.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an unprecedented summit on paedophilia within the Church and revisions to church laws to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Personal Link
For the representative, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the measure is deeply meaningful. The North American advocate shared they were abused by a priest who was later transferred between various churches.
"We trust this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to work with him," Hickey expressed. "Both sides share the common objective, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Historic Meeting
Multiple representatives of the coalition, which includes victims and supporters from over thirty countries, met with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The discussion, initially planned for a brief period, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The pontiff was described as "quite empathetic" when hearing the story of a female survivor victimized at a church-run institution for native youth in Canada.
Hickey noted the leader was "compassionate" about their personal experience and appeared "modest, humorous, 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."
Church Regulations Changes
The group is advocating that changes to canon law will facilitate the implementation of the strict approach globally.
They have consulted specialists and gathered documents that they will present to Pope Leo.
"He seemed interested in reviewing it," Hickey remarked.
Accountability Emphasized
A recently released church-ordered report highlighted the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or removal of religious officials or personnel in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The report also noted that survivors consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for bishops and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."
Moving Forward
The representative revealed they informed the Pope at the start of their discussion: "This represents as much a challenge for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."
After the meeting, Hickey voiced 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 bond is a move in the correct path," Hickey stated.
Hickey added that they told with the pontiff: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can change how the story ends - he valued that."