People who endured abuse by church officials have voiced fresh optimism after their first meeting with the new Pope at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the pontiff's choice to engage with them so soon in his papacy sent a strong message about his dedication to addressing the problem.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Advocated
The organization is pushing for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who admits to or is found guilty of abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the globe" to this proposal, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," Hickey stated.
Legacy Issue
The current pontiff, who assumed the position in May, has taken on this persistent problem that has haunted the Church for decades.
Earlier attempts to address the problem included an unprecedented summit on child abuse within the institution and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For the representative, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The Canadian activist revealed they were victimized by a clergy member who was later moved between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we aim to work with him," they stated. "Both sides share the common objective, we seek to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Historic Meeting
Multiple representatives of the organization, which includes survivors and advocates from over thirty countries, engaged with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The discussion, initially planned for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "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 church-run institution for native youth in Canada.
Hickey noted the leader was "compassionate" about their own story and seemed "modest, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Victims have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," they stated. "I believed like he was sincere, realistic, and receptive and eager to work with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The organization is hoping that changes to church regulations will facilitate the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have spoken with specialists and compiled documents that they plan to submit to Pope Leo.
"He appeared interested in looking at it," Hickey noted.
Responsibility Emphasized
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document highlighted the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or dismissal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The document also noted that survivors repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for bishops and senior officials to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Moving Forward
The representative revealed they informed the pontiff at the start of their discussion: "This is as much a challenge for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."
After the meeting, they voiced hope for progress.
"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, coming together and establishing a connection and persisting to build that bond is a move in the right direction," they commented.
Hickey added that they shared with the pontiff: "Just because it's a difficult period, I believe like we can change how the story concludes - he valued that."
