Individuals who endured abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope after their first meeting with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
Gemma Hickey, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the Pope's choice to meet with them so early in his leadership spoke volumes about his dedication to addressing the problem.
Global Strict Approach Pushed
The organization is pushing for a global zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is proven of abusing a child. This approach has been implemented in the United States.
The Pope recognized that there is "opposition in some parts of the world" to this proposal, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," they stated.
Inherited Challenge
The new Pope, who assumed the role in spring, has taken on this longstanding issue that has haunted the Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the situation included an historic meeting on child abuse within the institution and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For Hickey, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the measure is deeply meaningful. The Canadian advocate shared they were abused by a priest who was subsequently moved between different parishes.
"We trust this will set the tone for his leadership, because we aim to collaborate with him," they expressed. "We have the common objective, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."
Historic Meeting
Multiple members of the organization, which includes victims and advocates from more than 30 nations, met with the Pontiff 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 "quite empathetic" when listening to the account 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 "very humble, funny, and very down to earth."
"Victims have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was making empty promises," they commented. "I felt like he was genuine, practical, and receptive and eager to work with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The group is hoping that revisions to canon law will enable the adoption of the strict approach globally.
They have spoken with experts and gathered documents that they plan to submit to the pontiff.
"He seemed engaged in reviewing it," Hickey remarked.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recent Vatican-commissioned document highlighted the "importance of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or removal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of abuse or negligence."
The report also pointed out that survivors repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for bishops and senior officials to be held accountable for inaction and cover-up."
Moving Forward
Hickey shared they informed the Pope at the beginning of their meeting: "This is as much a challenge for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the encounter, they voiced hope for progress.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, coming together and building a connection and persisting to strengthen that bond is a move in the right direction," they stated.
They concluded that they told with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can alter how the narrative ends - he valued that."
