People who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope following their initial meeting with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the pontiff's choice to meet with them so early in his papacy sent a strong message about his commitment to addressing the problem.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The organization is pushing for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any clergy member who admits to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the US.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "resistance in some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey remarked.
Inherited Issue
The new Pope, who took the position in spring, has taken on this longstanding issue that has plagued the Catholic Church for decades.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an unprecedented summit on paedophilia within the Church and revisions to canon law to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Personal Link
For Hickey, who uses they/them pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the measure is personal. The North American activist shared they were abused by a priest who was subsequently moved between different parishes.
"We trust this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we want to work with him," they stated. "We have the same goal, we want to end clergy abuse."
Historic Meeting
Multiple members of the coalition, which includes victims and advocates from over thirty countries, met with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The meeting, originally scheduled for a brief period, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "primarily heard to us," according to Hickey.
The pontiff was described as "quite empathetic" when listening to the account of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.
Hickey noted the leader was "compassionate" about their own experience and appeared "very humble, humorous, and approachable."
"Victims have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," Hickey commented. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and receptive and eager to work with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The group is advocating that changes to church regulations will enable the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have spoken with experts and gathered documents that they plan to submit to Pope Leo.
"He appeared engaged in reviewing it," they noted.
Accountability Emphasized
A recently released Vatican-commissioned report emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or dismissal of religious officials or staff in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The document also pointed out that survivors consistently emphasized the "urgent need for bishops and major superiors to be held accountable for inaction and concealment."
Path Ahead
The representative revealed they informed the pontiff at the start of their meeting: "This is as much a risk for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the meeting, Hickey expressed optimism for progress.
"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, uniting and building a relationship and continuing to build that relationship is a move in the correct path," Hickey commented.
Hickey concluded that they told with the pontiff: "Even though it's a difficult period, I believe like we can change how the story concludes - he valued that."
