People who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have voiced fresh optimism following their initial meeting with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, heading the anti-abuse organization, commented that the pontiff's decision to meet with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to addressing the problem.
Global Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed
The organization is pushing for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who admits to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a minor. This policy has already been adopted in the US.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "resistance in some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey remarked.
Legacy Issue
The current pontiff, who took the role in spring, has inherited this longstanding problem that has haunted the Church for decades.
Previous efforts to address the situation included an historic summit on child abuse within the Church and revisions to church laws to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For the representative, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The Canadian activist shared they were abused by a priest who was subsequently moved between various churches.
"We trust this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to work with him," they stated. "Both sides share the common objective, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Multiple representatives of the organization, which represents victims and supporters from over thirty nations, engaged with the Pontiff in his official residence.
The discussion, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The pontiff was described as "very understanding" when listening to the story of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.
Hickey added the Pope was "compassionate" about their own story and appeared "modest, funny, and very down to earth."
"Victims have consistently sought a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," they stated. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and keen to work with us."
Canon Law Reforms
The organization is hoping that changes to canon law will enable the implementation of the strict approach globally.
They have spoken with specialists and gathered documents that they will present to Pope Leo.
"He seemed interested in reviewing it," they noted.
Responsibility Emphasized
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document highlighted the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or removal of religious officials or personnel in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The document also noted that survivors repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Path Ahead
Hickey shared they told the Pope at the beginning of their meeting: "This represents as much a risk for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the meeting, they expressed hope for progress.
"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, coming together and establishing a connection and continuing to build that relationship 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 believe like we can alter how the story ends - he valued that."
