People who experienced abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope following their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the pontiff's choice to engage with them so soon in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to addressing the issue.
Global Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The organization is pushing for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is proven of sexually abusing a minor. This approach has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is pushback," they remarked.
Legacy Issue
The current pontiff, who took the position in May, has taken on this longstanding issue that has plagued the Catholic Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the situation included an unprecedented summit on paedophilia within the institution and changes to canon law to clearly outlaw abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For Hickey, who uses they/them pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the policy is personal. The Canadian activist shared they were abused by a priest who was later transferred between various churches.
"We trust this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey expressed. "Both sides share the same goal, we seek to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Historic Encounter
Multiple representatives of the organization, which represents survivors and supporters from more than 30 countries, met with the Pontiff in his official residence.
The discussion, initially planned for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was characterized as "very understanding" when listening to the account of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.
Hickey added the Pope was "tender" about their personal experience and appeared "very humble, humorous, and approachable."
"Survivors have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was making empty promises," Hickey stated. "I felt like he was genuine, practical, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The group is advocating that changes to church regulations will enable the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have consulted experts and compiled documents that they will present to Pope Leo.
"He seemed interested in looking at it," they remarked.
Accountability Emphasized
A recent church-ordered report emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or dismissal of religious officials or staff in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The document also noted that survivors consistently emphasized the "urgent need for bishops and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Path Ahead
Hickey shared they informed the pontiff at the start of their meeting: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the encounter, they voiced hope for future change.
"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, coming together and building a connection and persisting to strengthen that bond is a step in the right direction," Hickey stated.
Hickey concluded that they shared with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the narrative concludes - he appreciated that."
