Individuals who endured sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed renewed hope after their first meeting with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the Pope's decision to engage with them so soon in his papacy sent a strong message about his commitment to tackling the problem.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The group is advocating for a global zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a minor. This approach has already been adopted in the US.
The Pontiff recognized that there is "opposition in certain regions of the globe" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is pushback," Hickey remarked.
Inherited Challenge
The new Pope, who assumed the role in spring, has taken on this longstanding issue that has plagued the Church for decades.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an historic summit on child abuse within the Church and revisions to canon law to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Personal Connection
For the representative, who uses they/them pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the policy is deeply meaningful. The North American advocate revealed they were victimized by a priest who was later transferred between different parishes.
"We trust this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we want to work with him," Hickey stated. "We have the common objective, we want to end clergy abuse."
Historic Meeting
Multiple members of the organization, which represents survivors and advocates from over thirty countries, engaged with the Pope in his official residence.
The meeting, initially planned for 20 minutes, extended to a full hour, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was characterized as "quite empathetic" when hearing the account of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.
Hickey added the leader was "compassionate" about their own experience and appeared "modest, funny, and very down to earth."
"Victims have consistently sought a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," Hickey stated. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and receptive and keen to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The organization is advocating that changes to canon law will facilitate the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and compiled materials that they will submit to the pontiff.
"He seemed interested in looking at it," they remarked.
Accountability Highlighted
A recent church-ordered report emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or dismissal of religious officials or personnel in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The report also pointed out that survivors repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for church leaders and senior officials to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Moving Forward
Hickey revealed they told the pontiff at the start of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the meeting, they expressed hope for progress.
"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, 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," they stated.
Hickey concluded that they told with the pontiff: "Just because it's a difficult period, I feel like we can alter how the story ends - he valued that."
