People who endured abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism after their initial meeting with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, heading the anti-abuse organization, commented that the pontiff's choice to engage with them so soon in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to tackling the problem.
Global Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The organization is advocating for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a minor. This policy has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "opposition in certain regions of the globe" to this proposal, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," they stated.
Legacy Challenge
The current pontiff, who took the role in spring, has inherited this persistent problem that has haunted the Catholic Church for decades.
Previous efforts to address the situation included an historic summit on paedophilia within the institution and changes to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For Hickey, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the measure is deeply meaningful. The Canadian activist revealed they were victimized by a clergy member who was later moved between various churches.
"Hopefully 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 clergy abuse."
Historic Encounter
Multiple representatives of the organization, which represents victims and advocates from over thirty countries, met with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The discussion, originally scheduled for a brief period, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The Pope was characterized as "very understanding" when hearing the account of a female survivor victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in Canada.
They noted the leader was "tender" about their own experience and seemed "modest, funny, and approachable."
"Survivors have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," Hickey commented. "I felt like he was sincere, practical, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The organization is hoping that changes to canon law will facilitate the adoption of the strict approach globally.
They have spoken with experts and gathered documents that they plan to present to the pontiff.
"He seemed interested in looking at it," Hickey noted.
Responsibility Emphasized
A recently released Vatican-commissioned report emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or dismissal of religious officials or staff in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The document also noted that victims consistently emphasized the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be held accountable for negligence and concealment."
Moving Forward
Hickey revealed they told the pontiff at the beginning of their meeting: "This represents as much a challenge for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the meeting, Hickey voiced optimism for future change.
"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 bond is a step in the right direction," they commented.
They added that they told with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can change how the narrative ends - he appreciated that."
