People who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope after their first meeting with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the pontiff's choice to meet with them so soon in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to addressing the problem.
Global Zero-Tolerance Policy Advocated
The group is advocating for a global strict approach that would defrock any clergy member who admits to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a minor. 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 proposal, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey stated.
Inherited Issue
The new Pope, who assumed the position in spring, has taken on this longstanding problem that has plagued the Catholic Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the problem included an historic meeting on paedophilia within the Church and revisions to church laws to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Personal Link
For the representative, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The North American activist revealed they were abused by a priest who was subsequently transferred between different parishes.
"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 eliminate clergy abuse."
Historic Encounter
Seven representatives of the organization, which represents victims and supporters from over thirty nations, met with the Pope in his official residence.
The meeting, initially planned for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was characterized as "quite empathetic" when hearing the story of a female survivor abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.
They noted the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal experience and appeared "very humble, humorous, and approachable."
"Survivors have consistently sought a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," Hickey commented. "I felt like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Canon Law Changes
The group is hoping that revisions to church regulations will enable the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have consulted experts and compiled documents that they plan to submit to Pope Leo.
"He appeared engaged in reviewing it," they remarked.
Accountability Highlighted
A recent church-ordered report highlighted the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or removal of Church leaders or staff in cases of abuse or negligence."
The document also noted that survivors repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for church leaders and senior officials to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."
Path Ahead
Hickey shared they informed the pontiff at the beginning of their meeting: "This represents as much a challenge for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
Following the meeting, Hickey voiced hope for progress.
"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, coming together and establishing a connection and persisting to build that bond is a move in the right direction," they commented.
They concluded that they shared with the pontiff: "Even though it's a difficult period, I believe like we can alter how the story ends - he valued that."
