People who experienced sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed renewed hope following their initial encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, who leads the anti-abuse organization, stated that the Pope's decision to meet with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to tackling the issue.
Worldwide Strict 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 policy has been implemented in the US.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is resistance," they remarked.
Inherited Issue
The current pontiff, who assumed the role in spring, has taken on this longstanding problem that has plagued the Church for many years.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the institution and revisions to church laws to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Personal Link
For the representative, who prefers they/them pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the measure is personal. The North American advocate shared they were victimized by a priest who was later transferred between various churches.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we want to work with him," Hickey expressed. "We have the common objective, we seek to end abuse by religious officials."
Historic Encounter
Multiple members of the organization, which includes victims and supporters from more than 30 nations, met with the Pope in his official residence.
The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was described as "very understanding" when hearing the account of a female survivor victimized at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.
Hickey added the Pope was "tender" about their own story and seemed "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," Hickey commented. "I felt like he was genuine, practical, and very open and eager to work with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The group is hoping that changes to canon law will enable the adoption of the strict approach globally.
They have consulted experts and gathered documents that they plan to present to the pontiff.
"He seemed interested in looking at it," they noted.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released Vatican-commissioned report emphasized the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or dismissal of Church leaders or staff in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The report also pointed out that survivors consistently emphasized the "urgent need for bishops and senior officials to be made responsible for inaction and cover-up."
Moving Forward
The representative revealed they informed the pontiff at the start of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."
Following the encounter, they expressed optimism for future change.
"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, uniting and building a connection and persisting to build that bond is a step in the correct path," they stated.
They concluded that they told with the pontiff: "Just because it's a difficult period, I feel like we can alter how the narrative ends - he appreciated that."
