Individuals who endured sexual abuse by church officials have voiced fresh optimism following their first meeting with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the pontiff's decision to meet with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to addressing the issue.
Global Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed
The organization is advocating for a global zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any clergy member who confesses to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This policy has been implemented in the United States.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "opposition in certain regions of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is pushback," they stated.
Legacy Challenge
The new Pope, who took the position in May, has inherited this longstanding issue that has haunted the Church for many years.
Earlier attempts to resolve the situation included an historic meeting on child abuse within the institution and changes to canon law to clearly outlaw abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For the representative, who prefers they/them pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The Canadian advocate revealed they were victimized by a priest who was later transferred between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to work with him," Hickey expressed. "Both sides share the same goal, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Historic Meeting
Multiple members of the coalition, which includes victims and supporters from over thirty countries, met with the Pope in his official residence.
The meeting, originally scheduled for a brief period, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The Pope was described as "very understanding" when hearing the account of a female survivor victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.
Hickey added the leader was "compassionate" about their personal experience and appeared "modest, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," they commented. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and receptive and eager to work with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The group is advocating that revisions to canon law will enable the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have consulted experts and compiled documents that they plan to submit to the pontiff.
"He appeared engaged in looking at it," they noted.
Accountability Emphasized
A recent Vatican-commissioned report emphasized the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the resignation and/or dismissal of religious officials or personnel in cases of misconduct 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."
Moving Forward
Hickey revealed they informed the Pope at the beginning of their meeting: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."
Following the encounter, Hickey voiced optimism for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, uniting and building a relationship and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a step in the right direction," Hickey commented.
They added that they told with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can change how the narrative concludes - he appreciated that."
