Individuals who endured sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed renewed hope after their initial meeting with the new Pope at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, heading the anti-abuse organization, stated that the Pope's decision to engage with them so soon in his papacy sent a strong message about his commitment to tackling the problem.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Advocated
The organization is advocating for a global zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any priest who confesses to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the US.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "opposition in some parts of the globe" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is pushback," Hickey remarked.
Legacy Challenge
The current pontiff, who took the role in May, has taken on this persistent problem that has haunted the Church for many years.
Earlier attempts to address the problem included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the institution and changes to church laws to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For Hickey, who uses they/them pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the policy is deeply meaningful. The Canadian advocate revealed they were abused by a priest who was later moved between various churches.
"We trust this will set the tone for his leadership, because we want to work with him," Hickey expressed. "Both sides share the same goal, we seek to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Historic Encounter
Seven representatives of the organization, which includes victims and supporters from over thirty nations, met with the Pope in his official residence.
The meeting, 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 "quite empathetic" when listening to the story of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in Canada.
They noted the leader was "tender" about their own experience and seemed "very humble, funny, and approachable."
"Survivors have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," they commented. "I believed like he was sincere, realistic, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Canon Law Reforms
The organization is hoping that changes to church regulations will facilitate the adoption of the strict approach worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and gathered documents that they plan to present to the pontiff.
"He appeared interested in reviewing it," Hickey noted.
Accountability Highlighted
A recent Vatican-commissioned document emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or dismissal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of abuse or negligence."
The document also pointed out that survivors repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Path Ahead
The representative revealed they told the Pope at the start of their meeting: "This is as much a challenge for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the meeting, they expressed optimism for progress.
"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, uniting and establishing a relationship and persisting to build that relationship is a move in the right direction," Hickey commented.
They concluded that they told with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can alter how the story concludes - he valued that."
