People who endured sexual abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism following their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the pontiff's decision to meet with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to addressing the issue.
Global Strict Policy Advocated
The organization is pushing for a global zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any priest who confesses to or is proven of abusing a child. This approach has been implemented in the United States.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "resistance in some parts of the world" to this proposal, according to the representative.
"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is pushback," they stated.
Legacy Challenge
The current pontiff, who took the role in May, has taken on this longstanding issue that has plagued the Catholic Church for many years.
Earlier attempts to address the problem included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the Church and changes to canon law to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For the representative, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the measure is personal. The Canadian advocate revealed they were abused by a clergy member who was later transferred between various churches.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we aim to work with him," they expressed. "We have the same goal, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."
Significant Encounter
Multiple members of the coalition, which represents victims and supporters from more than 30 countries, met with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The meeting, originally scheduled for a brief period, extended to a full hour, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The Pope was characterized as "very understanding" when hearing the account of a woman abused at a church-run institution for native youth in North America.
Hickey added the Pope was "compassionate" about their own story and appeared "very humble, funny, and very down to earth."
"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 receptive and keen to collaborate with us."
Canon Law Changes
The group is advocating that revisions to church regulations will enable the implementation of the strict approach worldwide.
They have consulted experts and gathered materials that they will submit to the pontiff.
"He seemed interested in looking at it," Hickey noted.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released church-ordered report highlighted the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or removal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The report also noted that victims consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Path Ahead
The representative revealed they informed the Pope at the start of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."
Following the meeting, they expressed hope for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, uniting and building a connection and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a move in the right direction," they stated.
They concluded that they shared with the pontiff: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can change how the story ends - he appreciated that."
