People who endured sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have voiced fresh optimism following their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
Gemma Hickey, heading the anti-abuse organization, commented that the Pope's choice to engage with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to tackling the issue.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The group is pushing for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is found guilty of abusing a minor. This policy 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.
"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is resistance," Hickey remarked.
Inherited Issue
The current pontiff, who took the role in spring, has taken on this persistent problem that has haunted the Church for many years.
Earlier attempts to resolve the problem included an historic summit on paedophilia within the institution and changes to canon law to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the measure is personal. The Canadian advocate revealed they were victimized by a priest who was later transferred between different parishes.
"We trust this will set the tone for his papacy, because we aim to collaborate with him," Hickey expressed. "We have the common objective, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."
Historic Encounter
Multiple members of the coalition, which represents victims and supporters from over thirty countries, engaged with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The discussion, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was described as "quite empathetic" when listening to the story of a female survivor victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in Canada.
Hickey added the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal story and appeared "very humble, funny, and very down to earth."
"Victims have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was making empty promises," Hickey commented. "I believed like he was sincere, realistic, and receptive and eager to work with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The organization is advocating that changes to canon law will enable the implementation of the strict approach worldwide.
They have consulted specialists and gathered materials that they will present to Pope Leo.
"He seemed interested in reviewing it," they remarked.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recent Vatican-commissioned document highlighted the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the resignation and/or removal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of abuse or negligence."
The document also pointed out that victims consistently emphasized the "urgent need for church leaders and senior officials to be held accountable for negligence and concealment."
Moving Forward
Hickey shared they told the Pope at the start of their meeting: "This represents as much a challenge for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the meeting, Hickey voiced optimism for progress.
"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, coming together and building a relationship and continuing to strengthen that bond is a step in the right direction," they commented.
Hickey added that they shared with the pontiff: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can alter how the story ends - he valued that."
