People who endured sexual abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope following their initial encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the Pope's decision to meet with them so early in his leadership spoke volumes about his commitment to addressing the problem.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed
The organization is pushing for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any priest who confesses to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This policy has already been adopted in the US.
The Pontiff recognized that there is "opposition in some parts of the globe" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is pushback," Hickey stated.
Inherited Challenge
The current pontiff, who assumed the role in spring, has taken on this longstanding problem that has haunted the Catholic Church for many years.
Earlier attempts to resolve the situation included an historic meeting on paedophilia within the institution and revisions to canon law to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For Hickey, who prefers they/them pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the measure is deeply meaningful. The North American activist shared they were abused by a priest who was subsequently transferred between different parishes.
"We trust this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey stated. "We have the common objective, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Historic Encounter
Multiple members of the coalition, which represents survivors and supporters from over thirty countries, met with the Pope in his official residence.
The meeting, originally scheduled for a brief period, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The Pope was characterized as "quite empathetic" when listening to the story of a female survivor abused at a church-run institution for Indigenous children in North America.
Hickey added the Pope was "compassionate" about their own story and appeared "modest, funny, and approachable."
"Survivors have consistently sought a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," they commented. "I felt like he was genuine, realistic, and receptive and keen to collaborate with us."
Canon Law Changes
The group is hoping that revisions to church regulations will facilitate the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have spoken with experts and compiled materials that they plan to submit to the pontiff.
"He seemed interested in looking at it," they noted.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recent church-ordered report highlighted the "importance of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or removal of Church leaders or staff in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The report also pointed out that victims repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Moving Forward
Hickey shared they told the pontiff at the beginning of their meeting: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the meeting, they expressed optimism for progress.
"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, uniting and building a relationship and persisting to strengthen that bond is a move in the right direction," Hickey commented.
They concluded that they told with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a difficult period, I believe like we can change how the narrative concludes - he valued that."
