People who experienced abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed renewed hope following their first encounter with the new Pope at the Vatican.
Gemma Hickey, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the pontiff's decision to engage with them so early in his papacy sent a strong message about his commitment to tackling the issue.
Worldwide Strict Approach Pushed
The group is pushing for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who confesses to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a child. This approach has been implemented in the US.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "resistance in some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is resistance," Hickey remarked.
Legacy Challenge
The current pontiff, who took the role in spring, has inherited this longstanding issue that has haunted the Catholic Church for many years.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the institution and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For Hickey, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The Canadian activist revealed they were abused by a clergy member who was subsequently moved between various churches.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey expressed. "Both sides share the common objective, we seek to end clergy abuse."
Historic Encounter
Seven representatives of the organization, which represents survivors and supporters from over thirty nations, met with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The discussion, initially planned for a brief period, lasted to a full hour, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to Hickey.
The Pope was characterized as "quite empathetic" when hearing the account of a female survivor victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.
Hickey noted the leader was "compassionate" about their personal story and appeared "modest, humorous, and approachable."
"Victims have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," they stated. "I believed like he was genuine, practical, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The organization is hoping that changes to canon law will facilitate the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have consulted specialists and gathered documents that they will submit to Pope Leo.
"He appeared interested in looking at it," Hickey remarked.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released church-ordered report highlighted the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down 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 concealment."
Path Ahead
Hickey shared they informed the pontiff at the start of their discussion: "This is as much a challenge for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
Following the encounter, they expressed hope for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, uniting and building a relationship and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a move in the correct path," they stated.
Hickey added that they shared with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a difficult period, I feel like we can alter how the story ends - he appreciated that."
