Individuals who experienced sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have voiced renewed hope after their initial meeting with the new Pope at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, who leads the anti-abuse organization, stated that the Pope's choice to meet with them so early in his leadership spoke volumes about his commitment to tackling the problem.
Global Strict Policy Pushed
The organization is advocating for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who confesses to or is proven of abusing a minor. This approach has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pontiff recognized that there is "opposition in certain regions of the globe" to this proposal, according to the representative.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is resistance," Hickey stated.
Inherited Issue
The current pontiff, who took the role in May, has inherited this longstanding issue that has haunted the Catholic Church for many years.
Earlier attempts to resolve the situation included an historic summit on paedophilia within the Church and changes to church laws to clearly outlaw abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For the representative, who uses they/them pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the measure is personal. The Canadian advocate shared they were abused by a priest who was later transferred between various churches.
"We trust this will set the tone for his leadership, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey stated. "Both sides share the common objective, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Historic Meeting
Multiple members of the coalition, which represents victims and supporters from over thirty countries, met with the Pontiff 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 the representative.
The pontiff was characterized as "very understanding" when listening to the story of a woman victimized at a church-run institution for native youth in North America.
Hickey noted the Pope 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 perceive like he was giving us lip service," they commented. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and keen to work with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The organization is hoping that revisions to canon law will enable the implementation of the strict approach globally.
They have spoken with specialists and gathered documents that they will submit to Pope Leo.
"He seemed engaged in reviewing it," Hickey remarked.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or removal of Church leaders or staff in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The document also noted that survivors consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for bishops and senior officials to be held accountable for negligence and cover-up."
Path Ahead
The representative shared they informed the Pope at the start of their meeting: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the encounter, 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 persisting to strengthen that bond is a move in the right direction," they stated.
Hickey concluded that they told with the pontiff: "Just because it's a difficult period, I feel like we can alter how the story concludes - he valued that."
