People who endured abuse by Catholic clergy have voiced fresh optimism after their first meeting with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the Pope's decision to engage with them so early in his papacy sent a strong message about his commitment to tackling the problem.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed
The group is advocating for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who confesses to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the US.
The Pope recognized that there is "opposition in certain regions of the world" to this proposal, according to the representative.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is resistance," they remarked.
Legacy Issue
The new Pope, who took the position in spring, has inherited this persistent issue that has haunted the Catholic Church for many years.
Earlier attempts to address the problem included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the Church and changes to church laws to clearly outlaw abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For Hickey, who prefers they/them pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the measure is deeply meaningful. 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 collaborate with him," they expressed. "We have the common objective, we want to end abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Multiple representatives of the coalition, which includes survivors and advocates from over thirty nations, met with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The meeting, originally scheduled for a brief period, lasted to a full hour, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was described as "very understanding" when listening to the account of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.
They added the Pope was "compassionate" about their own story and appeared "very humble, funny, and approachable."
"Survivors have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," Hickey commented. "I believed like he was sincere, realistic, and receptive and keen to work with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The organization is hoping that revisions to church regulations will facilitate the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and compiled documents that they plan to present to the pontiff.
"He seemed interested in reviewing it," they noted.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document highlighted the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or dismissal of religious officials or personnel in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The document also pointed out that victims repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."
Moving Forward
Hickey shared they informed the pontiff at the beginning of their meeting: "This represents as much a challenge for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the encounter, Hickey voiced optimism for future change.
"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, coming together and building a relationship and persisting to build that bond is a step in the correct path," Hickey stated.
They added that they shared with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can change how the story concludes - he appreciated that."
