People who endured abuse by Catholic clergy have voiced fresh optimism after their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the Pope's decision to engage with them so soon in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to tackling the issue.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The organization is pushing for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is proven of abusing a minor. This approach has been implemented in the United States.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "resistance in some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is pushback," Hickey remarked.
Legacy Issue
The current pontiff, who assumed the position in May, has inherited this longstanding problem that has haunted the Church for decades.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the Church and changes to canon law to clearly outlaw abuse.
Personal Link
For the representative, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the measure is personal. The North American advocate revealed they were abused by a clergy member who was later transferred between various churches.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his leadership, because we want to work with him," they expressed. "We have the common objective, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."
Historic Meeting
Multiple representatives of the coalition, which represents survivors and advocates from more than 30 countries, engaged with the Pope in his official residence.
The discussion, initially planned for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was described as "very understanding" when listening to the account of a woman victimized at a church-run institution for Indigenous children in Canada.
They noted the Pope was "tender" about their own experience and appeared "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was making empty promises," Hickey commented. "I believed like he was sincere, practical, and very open and keen to work with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The group is advocating that changes to church regulations will enable the adoption of the strict approach worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and compiled documents that they plan to present to Pope Leo.
"He appeared engaged in reviewing it," Hickey noted.
Accountability Emphasized
A recent church-ordered document 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 victims consistently emphasized the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be held accountable for negligence and cover-up."
Path Ahead
Hickey revealed they told the Pope at the beginning of their meeting: "This is as much a challenge for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
After the meeting, Hickey expressed hope for progress.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, coming together and building a relationship and continuing to build that relationship is a move in the correct path," they stated.
They concluded that they told with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the narrative concludes - he appreciated that."
