People who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope after their initial encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the Pope's choice to meet with them so soon in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to tackling the issue.
Global Strict Policy Advocated
The group is pushing for a global strict approach that would defrock any priest who confesses to or is proven of abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the world" to this proposal, according to the representative.
"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey stated.
Inherited Challenge
The new Pope, who took the role in spring, has inherited this longstanding issue that has haunted the Church for decades.
Earlier attempts to resolve the situation included an unprecedented meeting on paedophilia within the Church and revisions to canon law to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Personal Connection
For the representative, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the measure is deeply meaningful. The North American advocate revealed they were victimized by a priest who was later transferred between various churches.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his leadership, because we aim to collaborate with him," they expressed. "We have the common objective, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Historic Encounter
Multiple representatives of the organization, which includes survivors and advocates from more than 30 countries, engaged with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
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 "quite empathetic" when listening to the story of a female survivor abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.
They added the leader was "compassionate" about their personal experience and seemed "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Victims have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," Hickey stated. "I felt like he was sincere, realistic, and very open and eager to work with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The group is hoping that revisions to canon law will facilitate the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have consulted experts and gathered documents that they plan to present to Pope Leo.
"He seemed engaged in looking at it," they remarked.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document highlighted the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or removal of Church leaders or staff in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The document also pointed out that survivors consistently emphasized the "urgent need for bishops and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."
Path Ahead
The representative shared they told the pontiff at the start of their discussion: "This represents as much a challenge for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."
After the encounter, they voiced hope for progress.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, coming together and establishing a relationship and continuing to strengthen that relationship is a step in the right direction," they commented.
They concluded that they shared with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a difficult period, I feel like we can alter how the story concludes - he appreciated that."
