People who endured abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope after their initial meeting with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
Gemma Hickey, who leads the anti-abuse organization, commented that the Pope's choice to engage with them so early in his leadership spoke volumes about his commitment to tackling the issue.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The organization is pushing for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who confesses to or is proven of sexually abusing a minor. This approach has been implemented in the US.
The Pontiff recognized that there is "opposition in some parts of the globe" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is resistance," Hickey remarked.
Legacy Issue
The new Pope, who took the position in May, has inherited this longstanding problem that has haunted the Catholic Church for decades.
Earlier attempts to address the situation included an historic summit on child abuse within the Church and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For the representative, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The Canadian activist revealed they were victimized by a priest who was later moved between different parishes.
"We trust this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we aim to work with him," Hickey expressed. "We have the same goal, we seek to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Historic Meeting
Multiple members of the organization, which includes survivors and advocates from more than 30 countries, met with the Pontiff in his official residence.
The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, 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 abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in Canada.
Hickey noted the leader was "compassionate" about their personal experience and appeared "modest, funny, and approachable."
"Victims have consistently sought a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," Hickey stated. "I believed like he was sincere, practical, and very open and eager to work with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The organization is advocating that revisions to canon law will facilitate the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have spoken with specialists and gathered documents that they will submit to Pope Leo.
"He appeared interested in reviewing it," Hickey remarked.
Accountability Emphasized
A recently released Vatican-commissioned report highlighted the "importance of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or removal of Church leaders or staff in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The report also noted that survivors consistently emphasized the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Path Ahead
Hickey shared they informed the Pope at the beginning of their discussion: "This is as much a challenge for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the meeting, they expressed optimism for future change.
"We realise 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 continuing to build that bond is a move in the right direction," Hickey commented.
They added that they shared with the pontiff: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can change how the story concludes - he valued that."
