People who endured abuse by church officials have voiced fresh optimism after their first meeting with the new Pope at the Vatican.
Gemma Hickey, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the pontiff's choice to meet with them so soon in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to tackling the issue.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The organization is advocating for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any priest who confesses to or is found guilty of abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the globe" to this proposal, according to the representative.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is resistance," they remarked.
Inherited Challenge
The current pontiff, who took the role in May, has taken on this longstanding issue that has plagued the Catholic Church for many years.
Previous efforts to resolve the problem included an unprecedented summit on child abuse within the Church and changes to church laws to clearly outlaw abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For the representative, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the policy is deeply meaningful. The Canadian advocate shared they were abused by a clergy member who was later moved between various churches.
"We trust this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to work with him," they stated. "We have the same goal, we seek to end clergy abuse."
Historic Encounter
Seven representatives of the organization, which includes victims and advocates from over thirty countries, met with the Pope 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 characterized as "quite empathetic" when hearing the account of a woman victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.
They added the leader was "compassionate" about their own experience and seemed "very humble, humorous, and approachable."
"Survivors have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," Hickey stated. "I believed like he was genuine, practical, and very open and eager to work with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The organization is advocating that changes to church regulations will facilitate the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have consulted experts and gathered materials that they will submit to Pope Leo.
"He seemed interested in reviewing it," they remarked.
Accountability Emphasized
A recent Vatican-commissioned document emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or removal of religious officials or staff in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The report also pointed out that victims consistently emphasized the "urgent need for church leaders and senior officials to be held accountable for inaction and concealment."
Moving Forward
Hickey shared they informed 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, Hickey expressed hope for progress.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, uniting and building a relationship and persisting to build that bond is a move in the right direction," they stated.
They added that they told with the pontiff: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can alter how the narrative ends - he valued that."
