Individuals who experienced abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope following their initial meeting with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the Pope's decision to meet with them so early in his leadership spoke volumes about his dedication to tackling the problem.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The group is pushing for a global strict approach that would defrock any clergy member who admits to or is proven of abusing a child. This approach has been implemented in the US.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "opposition in some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is pushback," Hickey stated.
Legacy Challenge
The current pontiff, who took the role in May, has inherited this persistent issue that has plagued the Church for many years.
Earlier attempts to resolve the problem included an historic meeting on child abuse within the institution and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For the representative, who prefers they/them pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The North American advocate revealed they were abused by a priest who was later transferred between different parishes.
"We trust this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey expressed. "Both sides share the common objective, we seek to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Significant Encounter
Seven representatives of the coalition, which represents victims and supporters from over thirty countries, met with the Pope in his official residence.
The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was described as "very understanding" when hearing the account of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in Canada.
Hickey added the leader was "tender" about their own experience and seemed "modest, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Victims have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," they stated. "I felt like he was sincere, practical, and receptive and keen to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The organization is advocating that revisions to church regulations will enable the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have consulted specialists and gathered documents that they will present to Pope Leo.
"He seemed engaged in looking at it," Hickey noted.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released Vatican-commissioned report highlighted the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the resignation and/or dismissal of religious officials or staff in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The report also noted that victims repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."
Moving Forward
The representative shared they informed the Pope at the start of their meeting: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the meeting, they expressed hope for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, uniting and establishing a connection and persisting to strengthen that bond is a step in the correct path," they commented.
They added that they shared with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a difficult period, I believe like we can alter how the story concludes - he valued that."
