People who experienced abuse by Catholic clergy have voiced renewed hope following their initial meeting with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
Gemma Hickey, who leads the anti-abuse organization, stated that the pontiff's choice to engage with them so early in his leadership spoke volumes about his dedication to tackling the problem.
Global Zero-Tolerance Policy Advocated
The group is advocating for a worldwide strict approach that would defrock any clergy member who admits to or is proven of sexually abusing a minor. This policy has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "opposition in certain regions of the world" to this proposal, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," Hickey remarked.
Legacy Challenge
The new Pope, who took the position in May, has inherited this persistent issue that has plagued the Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the situation included an historic meeting on child abuse within the Church and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For the representative, who prefers they/them pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the policy is personal. The North American advocate revealed they were abused by a priest who was subsequently transferred between various churches.
"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 seek to eliminate clergy abuse."
Significant Encounter
Multiple representatives of the coalition, which represents survivors and advocates from over thirty nations, engaged with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The discussion, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.
The pontiff was characterized as "quite empathetic" when hearing the story of a female survivor victimized at a church-run institution for Indigenous children in Canada.
Hickey added the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal experience and appeared "very humble, humorous, and approachable."
"Victims have consistently sought a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," Hickey commented. "I felt like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and keen to work with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The group is hoping that changes to church regulations will enable the implementation of the strict approach globally.
They have consulted experts and compiled materials that they plan to submit to Pope Leo.
"He appeared interested in reviewing it," they noted.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released church-ordered report emphasized the "importance of a efficient process for the resignation and/or removal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The report also noted that survivors repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for bishops and major superiors to be made responsible for inaction and cover-up."
Moving Forward
The representative shared they told the pontiff at the start of their meeting: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the meeting, Hickey voiced optimism 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 relationship and persisting to strengthen that bond is a step in the correct path," Hickey stated.
Hickey added that they told with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the story concludes - he appreciated that."
