Individuals who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have voiced fresh optimism following their first meeting with the new Pope at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the pontiff's decision to engage with them so early in his leadership spoke volumes about his commitment to tackling the issue.
Worldwide Strict Approach Advocated
The group is advocating for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who confesses to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the US.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "resistance in some parts of the world" to this proposal, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey stated.
Legacy Challenge
The current pontiff, who assumed the role in May, has taken on this persistent problem that has plagued the Catholic Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the problem included an historic meeting on child abuse within the Church and revisions to church laws to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For the representative, who uses they/them pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the measure is personal. The North American advocate revealed they were victimized by a clergy member who was subsequently transferred between various churches.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we want to work with him," they expressed. "We have the same goal, we want to end abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Multiple representatives of the coalition, which represents survivors and advocates from over thirty countries, met with the Pope in his Vatican office.
The meeting, initially planned for 20 minutes, lasted 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 story of a female survivor victimized at a church-run institution for native youth in North America.
Hickey noted the Pope was "tender" about their personal experience and seemed "very humble, funny, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was making empty promises," Hickey commented. "I felt like he was genuine, practical, and very open and eager to work with us."
Canon Law Changes
The organization is hoping that changes to canon law will facilitate the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have spoken with specialists and compiled materials that they will present to Pope Leo.
"He appeared engaged in looking at it," they remarked.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recent Vatican-commissioned document highlighted the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation 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 "critical requirement for bishops and major superiors to be made responsible for inaction and cover-up."
Path Ahead
The representative shared they told the Pope at the beginning of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the meeting, Hickey voiced optimism for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, coming together and building a connection and persisting to strengthen that bond is a move in the correct path," Hickey commented.
Hickey added that they shared with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the story concludes - he valued that."
