Individuals who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope after their first meeting 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 early in his papacy spoke volumes about his commitment to addressing the issue.
Global Strict Approach Advocated
The group is pushing for a global strict approach that would defrock any priest who confesses to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a child. This policy has been implemented in the United States.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "opposition in some parts of the world" to this proposal, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," Hickey remarked.
Inherited Issue
The current pontiff, who took the role in May, has inherited this longstanding problem that has plagued the Catholic Church for many years.
Earlier attempts to resolve the problem included an unprecedented summit on paedophilia within the institution and revisions to church laws to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For the representative, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the measure is personal. The North American activist shared they were abused by a priest who was later transferred between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey expressed. "We have the common objective, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."
Historic Meeting
Seven representatives of the organization, which represents victims and supporters from over thirty countries, met with the Pope in his official residence.
The meeting, initially planned for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The Pope was characterized as "very understanding" when listening to the story of a female survivor victimized at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in Canada.
They noted the leader was "tender" about their personal experience and appeared "very humble, humorous, and approachable."
"Survivors have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," Hickey commented. "I felt like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The organization is hoping that changes to church regulations will enable the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have consulted specialists and gathered documents that they plan to submit to Pope Leo.
"He appeared engaged in looking at it," they remarked.
Accountability Emphasized
A recently released church-ordered report highlighted the "importance of a efficient process for the resignation and/or dismissal of Church leaders or staff in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The document also noted that survivors repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for church leaders and senior officials to be held accountable for negligence and cover-up."
Path Ahead
The representative shared they informed the Pope at the start of their meeting: "This is as much a challenge for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
After the meeting, they voiced hope for progress.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, coming together and establishing a relationship and continuing to build that bond is a step in the correct path," they stated.
Hickey added that they told with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can change how the narrative concludes - he valued that."
