People who endured abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed renewed hope after their initial meeting with the new Pope at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the Pope's choice to engage with them so early in his leadership spoke volumes about his commitment to addressing the issue.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The group is pushing for a global zero-tolerance policy that would defrock any priest who confesses to or is proven of abusing a child. This policy has already been adopted in the US.
The Pope recognized that there is "resistance in certain regions of the world" to this proposal, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is resistance," they remarked.
Inherited Challenge
The new Pope, who took the role in May, has inherited this persistent problem that has plagued the Catholic Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the problem included an unprecedented summit on child abuse within the Church and revisions to canon law to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For Hickey, who prefers they/them pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the measure is deeply meaningful. The Canadian advocate shared they were victimized by a clergy member who was later transferred between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his leadership, because we want to collaborate with him," they expressed. "We have the common objective, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Historic Encounter
Seven representatives of the organization, which includes survivors and advocates from more than 30 nations, met with the Pope in his official residence.
The discussion, initially planned for a brief period, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to Hickey.
The pontiff was characterized as "very understanding" when hearing the account of a female survivor abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.
They added the Pope was "compassionate" about their own experience and appeared "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Victims have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," Hickey commented. "I felt like he was sincere, realistic, and receptive and eager to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The group is advocating 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 present to Pope Leo.
"He appeared engaged in looking at it," Hickey noted.
Responsibility Emphasized
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or removal of religious officials or staff in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The report also pointed out that victims consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and major superiors to be held accountable for negligence and concealment."
Moving Forward
Hickey revealed they told the Pope at the beginning of their meeting: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."
Following the encounter, Hickey expressed 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 connection and continuing to build that bond is a move in the right direction," they commented.
They concluded that they shared with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a difficult period, I believe like we can alter how the story ends - he valued that."
