People who endured sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed renewed hope following their initial encounter with the new Pope at the Vatican.
Gemma Hickey, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the Pope's choice to engage with them so early in his leadership spoke volumes about his dedication to tackling the issue.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Approach Advocated
The organization is advocating for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who admits to or is proven of abusing a minor. This policy has been implemented in the US.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "opposition in some parts of the globe" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is resistance," they remarked.
Inherited Issue
The new Pope, who took the position in May, has inherited this longstanding issue that has plagued the Catholic Church for decades.
Earlier attempts to address the situation included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the institution and revisions to church laws to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For Hickey, who prefers they/them pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the measure is deeply meaningful. The North American advocate shared they were victimized by a priest who was later transferred between various churches.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we aim to work with him," they stated. "We have the common objective, we seek to eliminate clergy abuse."
Significant Encounter
Multiple members of the organization, which includes victims and advocates from over thirty countries, met with the Pope in his Vatican office.
The discussion, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, lasted to a full hour, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was characterized as "very understanding" when listening to the story of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.
They added the leader was "compassionate" about their personal story and appeared "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Victims have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," they commented. "I felt like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The organization is hoping that revisions to church regulations will enable the adoption of the strict approach globally.
They have consulted specialists and gathered documents that they will present to Pope Leo.
"He appeared engaged in reviewing it," they noted.
Accountability Highlighted
A recently released church-ordered report emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or removal of religious officials or personnel in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The report also noted that victims consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for bishops and senior officials to be held accountable for negligence and concealment."
Moving Forward
The representative shared they told the pontiff at the beginning of their discussion: "This is as much a challenge for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the meeting, Hickey voiced optimism for progress.
"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, uniting and building a connection and persisting to strengthen that bond is a move in the right direction," Hickey commented.
They concluded that they told with the pontiff: "Just because it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the story ends - he appreciated that."
