Individuals who endured sexual abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope after their initial encounter with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
Gemma Hickey, heading the anti-abuse organization, stated that the pontiff's choice to meet with them so early in his papacy sent a strong message about his commitment to addressing the issue.
Global Strict Policy Pushed
The organization is advocating for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This policy has been implemented in the US.
The Pope recognized that there is "resistance in some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is pushback," they remarked.
Inherited Issue
The new Pope, who assumed the role in spring, has inherited this longstanding problem that has plagued the Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the situation included an historic meeting on child abuse within the institution and changes to church laws to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For the representative, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the measure is personal. The North American advocate shared they were abused by a clergy member who was later transferred between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we aim to work with him," Hickey expressed. "Both sides share the same goal, we want to end abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Seven members of the coalition, which includes survivors and supporters from more than 30 nations, engaged with the Pontiff in his official residence.
The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The Pope was characterized as "quite empathetic" when hearing the story of a woman victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.
Hickey noted the Pope was "tender" about their personal story and appeared "very humble, humorous, and approachable."
"Victims have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," they stated. "I felt like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and eager to work with us."
Canon Law Changes
The group is hoping that changes to canon law will enable the adoption of the strict approach worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and gathered documents that they will present to the pontiff.
"He seemed engaged in looking at it," they remarked.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released Vatican-commissioned report emphasized the "importance 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 victims repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for church leaders and senior officials to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Path Ahead
The representative revealed they told the pontiff at the beginning of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to participate 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 be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, coming together and building a connection and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a move in the right direction," Hickey stated.
Hickey concluded that they shared with the pontiff: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the story concludes - he valued that."
