Individuals who experienced abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope after their first meeting with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
Gemma Hickey, who leads the anti-abuse organization, stated that the Pope's choice to engage with them so soon in his papacy sent a strong message about his dedication to addressing the problem.
Worldwide Strict Policy Pushed
The group is pushing for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who confesses to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pope recognized that there is "opposition in certain regions of the globe" to this proposal, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is pushback," they remarked.
Legacy Challenge
The new Pope, who took the position in May, has taken on this longstanding issue that has plagued the Church for many years.
Earlier attempts to address the problem included an historic summit on child abuse within the institution and changes to church laws to clearly outlaw abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the policy is deeply meaningful. The North American activist shared they were victimized by a clergy member who was later transferred between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his leadership, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey expressed. "We have the same goal, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."
Significant Meeting
Multiple representatives of the organization, which represents survivors and advocates from over thirty nations, engaged with the Pontiff in his official residence.
The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "primarily heard to us," according to Hickey.
The Pope was described as "very understanding" when listening to the account of a female survivor abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in Canada.
They noted the leader was "tender" about their personal experience and seemed "modest, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," Hickey stated. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The organization is advocating that revisions to canon law will enable the adoption of the strict approach globally.
They have consulted experts and compiled documents that they will present to Pope Leo.
"He appeared interested in reviewing it," Hickey remarked.
Accountability Highlighted
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document emphasized the "importance of a efficient process 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 consistently emphasized the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Path Ahead
The representative shared they informed the Pope at the beginning of their discussion: "This represents as much a challenge for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
After the encounter, they expressed optimism for progress.
"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, coming together and building a relationship and continuing to build that relationship is a move in the right direction," they stated.
They concluded that they told with the pontiff: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can change how the narrative ends - he valued that."
