Individuals who endured sexual abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope after their initial meeting with the new Pope at the Vatican.
Gemma Hickey, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the Pope's choice to meet with them so early in his papacy sent a strong message about his commitment to addressing the issue.
Global Strict Approach Advocated
The organization is pushing for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any clergy member who admits to or is proven of abusing a child. This policy has been implemented in the US.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "opposition in certain regions of the world" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is pushback," Hickey remarked.
Legacy Issue
The new Pope, who assumed the position in spring, has taken on this longstanding issue that has plagued the Catholic Church for many years.
Earlier attempts to resolve the situation included an historic summit on paedophilia within the Church and revisions to church laws to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the measure is personal. The Canadian activist shared they were abused by a clergy member who was later transferred between various churches.
"We trust this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we aim to collaborate with him," Hickey stated. "We have the same goal, we seek to end clergy abuse."
Historic Meeting
Multiple members of the coalition, which represents victims and advocates from over thirty nations, 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 "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was characterized as "quite empathetic" when hearing the story of a woman abused at a church-run institution for native youth in Canada.
Hickey added the Pope was "tender" about their own experience and appeared "modest, humorous, and approachable."
"Victims have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," they commented. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Canon Law Changes
The organization is advocating that changes to church regulations will facilitate the adoption of the strict approach globally.
They have consulted experts and compiled documents that they plan to submit to Pope Leo.
"He appeared engaged in looking at it," Hickey noted.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released church-ordered report emphasized the "importance of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or dismissal of religious officials or personnel in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The document also noted that survivors consistently emphasized the "urgent need for church leaders and senior officials to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."
Path Ahead
Hickey revealed they informed the pontiff at the beginning of their meeting: "This represents as much a challenge for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the encounter, Hickey expressed optimism for progress.
"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, uniting and building a relationship and persisting to build that relationship is a move in the correct path," Hickey stated.
Hickey added that they shared with the pontiff: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can alter how the narrative concludes - he valued that."
