People who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope after their first meeting with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, heading the anti-abuse organization, commented that the Pope's decision to engage with them so soon in his leadership spoke volumes about his dedication to tackling the issue.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Advocated
The group is advocating for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who confesses to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a child. This policy has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "opposition in certain regions of the globe" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is resistance," they remarked.
Inherited Challenge
The new Pope, who assumed the position in May, has inherited this longstanding problem that has plagued the Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the situation included an historic meeting on paedophilia within the Church and revisions to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For the representative, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the measure is personal. The North American advocate shared they were victimized by a priest who was subsequently moved between various churches.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to work with him," Hickey stated. "Both sides share the same goal, we seek to end abuse by religious officials."
Historic Meeting
Seven representatives of the coalition, which represents victims and advocates from over thirty nations, met with the Pope in his Vatican office.
The discussion, initially planned for 20 minutes, lasted to a full hour, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was characterized as "quite empathetic" when listening to the account of a female survivor victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in Canada.
They noted the leader was "compassionate" about their own experience and appeared "modest, humorous, and approachable."
"Survivors 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 genuine, practical, and receptive and eager to collaborate with us."
Canon Law Changes
The organization is hoping that revisions to church regulations will facilitate the implementation of the strict approach globally.
They have spoken with experts and gathered documents that they plan to present to the pontiff.
"He appeared interested in looking at it," they noted.
Accountability Emphasized
A recent church-ordered document emphasized the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the resignation and/or dismissal of religious officials or staff in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The document also noted that survivors consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for bishops and senior officials to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Path Ahead
The representative revealed they told the Pope at the beginning of their meeting: "This is as much a challenge for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."
Following the meeting, Hickey voiced hope for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, coming together and building a relationship and persisting to strengthen that bond is a move in the right direction," they commented.
They concluded that they shared with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can alter how the narrative concludes - he valued that."