Individuals who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope after their initial encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the pontiff's decision to meet with them so early in his papacy spoke volumes about his commitment to tackling the problem.
Global Strict Policy Pushed
The group is pushing for a global zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any clergy member who confesses to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a child. This policy has been implemented in the US.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "opposition in some parts of the globe" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is resistance," they stated.
Legacy Issue
The new Pope, who assumed the role in May, has inherited this longstanding problem that has plagued the Catholic Church for decades.
Earlier attempts to resolve the situation included an historic summit on child abuse within the Church and changes to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For Hickey, who uses they/them pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the policy is personal. The Canadian advocate revealed they were abused by a clergy member who was later transferred between various churches.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his leadership, because we want to work with him," Hickey expressed. "We have the same goal, we seek to end clergy abuse."
Significant Encounter
Multiple representatives of the coalition, which includes victims and supporters from over thirty nations, met with the Pontiff in his official residence.
The discussion, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was described as "very understanding" when listening to the story of a female survivor abused at a church-run institution for Indigenous children in North America.
Hickey added the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal story and appeared "modest, funny, and very down to earth."
"Victims have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," they commented. "I believed like he was sincere, realistic, and very open and eager to collaborate with us."
Canon Law Reforms
The group is hoping that changes to canon law will facilitate the implementation of the strict approach globally.
They have consulted specialists and compiled documents that they plan to submit to Pope Leo.
"He seemed interested in reviewing it," Hickey remarked.
Accountability Emphasized
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document highlighted 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 pointed out that victims consistently emphasized the "urgent need for bishops and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Moving Forward
Hickey revealed they informed the pontiff at the start of their meeting: "This is as much a risk for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."
After the meeting, they expressed hope for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, uniting and establishing a relationship and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a move in the right direction," they commented.
They concluded that they told with the pontiff: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can alter how the narrative concludes - he valued that."
