Individuals who endured sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed renewed hope after their first meeting with the new Pope at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, who leads the anti-abuse organization, commented that the Pope's decision to engage with them so soon in his leadership spoke volumes about his dedication to addressing the problem.
Global Strict Policy Pushed
The organization is pushing for a global zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pontiff recognized that there is "resistance in certain regions of the globe" to this proposal, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is pushback," Hickey remarked.
Legacy Issue
The current pontiff, who took the position in May, has taken on this persistent issue that has plagued the Church for many years.
Previous efforts to resolve the situation included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the Church and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the measure is deeply meaningful. The North American advocate shared they were abused by a clergy member who was subsequently transferred between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to collaborate with him," they stated. "We have the common objective, we want to end clergy abuse."
Significant Meeting
Multiple representatives of the organization, which represents survivors and supporters from more than 30 countries, engaged with the Pontiff in his official residence.
The discussion, 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 account of a woman victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in Canada.
Hickey noted the leader was "compassionate" about their own experience and seemed "very humble, funny, and approachable."
"Victims have long wanted a seat at the table 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 organization is hoping that changes to canon law will facilitate the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have spoken with experts and compiled documents that they will submit to the pontiff.
"He appeared interested in looking at it," Hickey remarked.
Accountability Emphasized
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document highlighted the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or dismissal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The document also pointed out that victims consistently emphasized the "urgent need for bishops and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."
Moving Forward
The representative revealed they told the Pope at the beginning of their meeting: "This represents as much a challenge for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."
Following the meeting, they voiced hope for future change.
"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, coming together and building a relationship and persisting to build that relationship is a move in the right direction," they stated.
They concluded that they told with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can alter how the narrative concludes - he valued that."
