Individuals who experienced abuse by Catholic clergy have voiced renewed hope after their first encounter with the new Pope at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the Pope's choice to engage with them so soon in his papacy sent a strong message about his dedication to addressing the problem.
Worldwide Strict Approach Pushed
The group is pushing for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who confesses 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 globe" to this proposal, according to the representative.
"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is pushback," they stated.
Inherited Challenge
The new Pope, who assumed the role in May, has taken on this longstanding problem that has plagued the Church for many years.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an unprecedented meeting on paedophilia within the institution and revisions to church laws to clearly outlaw abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For the representative, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the measure is personal. The Canadian advocate revealed they were victimized by a priest who was later transferred between various churches.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to work with him," they stated. "Both sides share the common objective, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."
Significant Encounter
Multiple members of the coalition, which includes survivors and advocates from over thirty countries, engaged with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The meeting, initially planned for a brief period, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to Hickey.
The Pope was characterized as "quite empathetic" when hearing the story of a female survivor victimized at a church-run institution for native youth in North America.
Hickey added the leader was "compassionate" about their personal experience and appeared "modest, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Victims have consistently sought a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was making empty promises," they commented. "I believed like he was sincere, practical, and very open and eager to work with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The group is advocating that changes to church regulations will facilitate the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have spoken with experts and gathered documents that they plan to present to the pontiff.
"He seemed interested in reviewing it," Hickey noted.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released church-ordered document highlighted the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the resignation and/or dismissal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The report also noted that survivors consistently emphasized the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."
Moving Forward
Hickey shared they informed the Pope at the beginning of their meeting: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the meeting, Hickey voiced hope for future change.
"We understand 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 bond is a move in the right direction," they commented.
They added that they shared with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a difficult period, I believe like we can change how the narrative ends - he valued that."
