People who endured sexual abuse by church officials have voiced fresh optimism after their first encounter with the new Pope at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, who leads the anti-abuse organization, commented that the pontiff's choice to meet with them so soon in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to addressing the issue.
Global Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The organization is advocating for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any clergy member who confesses to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This policy has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "opposition in some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," Hickey stated.
Legacy Challenge
The new Pope, who assumed the role in May, has taken on this persistent issue that has plagued the Catholic Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the problem included an historic summit on paedophilia within the institution and revisions to church laws to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For the representative, who prefers they/them pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the policy is personal. The Canadian activist shared they were abused by a priest who was subsequently transferred between various churches.
"We trust this will set the tone for his leadership, because we aim to collaborate with him," they expressed. "Both sides share the same goal, we seek to end abuse by religious officials."
Historic Meeting
Multiple representatives of the organization, which represents victims and advocates from more than 30 countries, engaged with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The discussion, initially planned for a brief period, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "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 church-run institution for Indigenous children in North America.
Hickey noted the leader was "tender" about their own experience and appeared "modest, funny, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," Hickey commented. "I believed like he was sincere, practical, and receptive and keen to work with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The group is hoping that revisions to church regulations will facilitate the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have spoken with specialists and gathered documents that they plan to submit to Pope Leo.
"He appeared engaged in looking at it," Hickey noted.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recent Vatican-commissioned document emphasized the "importance of a efficient process for the resignation and/or removal of Church leaders or staff in cases of abuse or negligence."
The document also noted that victims repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for bishops and major superiors to be held accountable for inaction and cover-up."
Path Ahead
Hickey revealed they informed the Pope at the beginning of their meeting: "This is as much a risk for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the meeting, Hickey expressed optimism for future change.
"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, uniting and building a connection and persisting to strengthen that bond is a move in the right direction," Hickey stated.
They concluded that they shared with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the story concludes - he valued that."
