Individuals who experienced abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism following their first encounter with the new Pope at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, who leads the anti-abuse organization, stated that the Pope's decision to meet with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to addressing the issue.
Worldwide Strict Approach Pushed
The organization is pushing for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who confesses to or is proven of sexually abusing a minor. This policy has already been adopted in the US.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "resistance in some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is resistance," Hickey remarked.
Inherited Issue
The new Pope, who took the position in spring, has taken on this longstanding problem that has haunted the Church for decades.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an historic meeting on child abuse within the Church and changes to canon law to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For Hickey, who uses they/them pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the policy is deeply meaningful. The Canadian advocate shared they were abused by a priest who was later moved between various churches.
"We trust this will set the tone for his papacy, because we aim to work with him," they stated. "We have the common objective, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."
Significant Meeting
Multiple representatives of the coalition, which includes victims and supporters from over thirty nations, engaged with the Pontiff in his official residence.
The meeting, originally scheduled for a brief period, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to Hickey.
The pontiff was characterized as "very understanding" when listening to the story of a female survivor abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.
Hickey added the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal experience and appeared "very humble, funny, and approachable."
"Survivors have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was making empty promises," Hickey stated. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and receptive and keen to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The group is advocating that revisions to canon law will facilitate the adoption of the strict approach worldwide.
They have consulted experts and gathered documents that they will present to the pontiff.
"He seemed interested in looking at it," Hickey noted.
Responsibility Emphasized
A recent Vatican-commissioned report emphasized the "importance of a efficient process for the resignation and/or removal of religious officials or staff in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The document also noted that victims repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for bishops and senior officials to be held accountable for negligence and concealment."
Moving Forward
Hickey revealed they informed the Pope at the start of their meeting: "This is as much a challenge for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the meeting, Hickey expressed hope for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, coming together and establishing a relationship and persisting to strengthen that bond is a step in the right direction," they stated.
Hickey 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."
