People who endured sexual abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism after their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
Gemma Hickey, heading the anti-abuse organization, stated that the Pope's decision to meet with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to addressing 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 found guilty of sexually abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the US.
The Pope recognized that there is "resistance in some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is pushback," Hickey remarked.
Inherited Challenge
The current pontiff, who took the role in May, has inherited this longstanding issue that has plagued the Catholic Church for decades.
Earlier attempts to address the problem included an unprecedented summit on child abuse within the Church and changes to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For Hickey, who prefers they/them pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the measure is personal. The North American advocate revealed they were victimized by a clergy member who was later moved between different parishes.
"We trust this will set the tone for his papacy, because we aim to work with him," they stated. "We have the same goal, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Significant Encounter
Multiple representatives of the organization, which includes survivors and advocates from more than 30 nations, engaged with the Pope in his official residence.
The meeting, originally scheduled for a brief period, lasted to a full hour, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The Pope was described as "quite empathetic" when listening to the account of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in Canada.
They added the Pope was "compassionate" about their own story and appeared "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Victims have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was making empty promises," they commented. "I felt like he was sincere, realistic, and receptive and keen to work with us."
Canon Law Changes
The organization is advocating that revisions to canon law will enable the adoption of the strict approach worldwide.
They have consulted specialists and gathered materials that they will present to Pope Leo.
"He seemed engaged in looking at it," they noted.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released church-ordered document highlighted the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or removal of religious officials or staff in cases of abuse or negligence."
The report also pointed out that victims repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for church leaders and major superiors to be held accountable for inaction and concealment."
Moving Forward
The representative shared they informed the pontiff at the start of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."
After the encounter, they voiced optimism for future change.
"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, uniting and building a relationship and persisting to build that bond is a move in the right direction," Hickey commented.
Hickey added that they shared with the pontiff: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can change how the story concludes - he appreciated that."
