Individuals who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope following their first encounter with the new Pope at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the pontiff's decision to engage with them so soon in his papacy sent a strong message about his dedication to tackling the issue.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Advocated
The organization is pushing for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who admits to or is proven of abusing a minor. This approach has already been adopted in the US.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "resistance in some parts of the globe" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey stated.
Inherited Issue
The current pontiff, who assumed the position in spring, has taken on this persistent issue that has haunted the Catholic Church for many years.
Earlier attempts to resolve the problem included an unprecedented summit on child abuse within the Church and changes to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the measure is personal. The Canadian activist shared they were abused by a clergy member who was later moved between various churches.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we want to work with him," they stated. "We have the common objective, we seek to end abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Seven members of the organization, which represents survivors and advocates from more than 30 countries, engaged with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The meeting, initially planned for a brief period, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The pontiff was characterized as "quite empathetic" when listening to the story of a female survivor abused at a church-run institution for native youth in Canada.
Hickey added the leader was "compassionate" about their own story and seemed "modest, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Victims have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," Hickey stated. "I felt like he was sincere, practical, and receptive and eager to collaborate with us."
Canon Law Reforms
The group is hoping that revisions to church regulations will enable the adoption of the strict approach worldwide.
They have consulted experts and gathered materials that they plan to submit to the pontiff.
"He appeared interested in looking at it," Hickey remarked.
Accountability Highlighted
A recent church-ordered document highlighted the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the resignation and/or dismissal of religious officials or personnel in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The document also noted that victims consistently emphasized the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be held accountable for negligence and concealment."
Moving Forward
Hickey revealed they informed the Pope at the beginning of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
Following the meeting, Hickey expressed optimism for progress.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, uniting and establishing a relationship and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a move in the correct path," they commented.
They added that they shared with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can alter how the narrative concludes - he valued that."
