People who experienced sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed fresh optimism after their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the pontiff's choice to engage with them so soon in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to tackling the problem.
Global Strict Policy Pushed
The group 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 been implemented in the US.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "opposition in certain regions of the world" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is resistance," Hickey stated.
Inherited Challenge
The new Pope, who assumed the position in May, has inherited this longstanding problem that has plagued the Catholic Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the problem included an historic meeting on child abuse within the Church and changes to canon law to clearly outlaw abuse.
Personal Link
For Hickey, who prefers they/them pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The North American advocate shared they were abused by a priest who was later transferred between different parishes.
"We trust this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we aim to collaborate with him," Hickey stated. "Both sides share the common objective, we seek to eliminate clergy abuse."
Historic Meeting
Multiple representatives of the coalition, which includes victims and advocates from over thirty countries, met with the Pope in his official residence.
The meeting, initially planned for 20 minutes, lasted to a full hour, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The pontiff was described as "quite empathetic" when hearing the account of a woman victimized at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.
Hickey noted the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal story and appeared "very humble, funny, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have consistently sought a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," Hickey stated. "I believed like he was sincere, realistic, and very open and eager to work with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The group is hoping that changes to canon law will enable the adoption of the strict approach worldwide.
They have spoken with specialists and gathered documents that they will submit to the pontiff.
"He seemed engaged in reviewing it," Hickey remarked.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released church-ordered report emphasized the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the resignation and/or removal of Church leaders or staff in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The document also noted that victims repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Path Ahead
The representative revealed they informed the Pope at the beginning of their discussion: "This represents as much a challenge for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the meeting, they expressed hope for future change.
"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, uniting and establishing a relationship and continuing to strengthen that relationship is a step in the correct path," they stated.
Hickey concluded that they shared with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can alter how the narrative concludes - he appreciated that."
