People who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism after their initial encounter with the new Pope at the Vatican.
Gemma Hickey, heading the anti-abuse organization, stated that the pontiff's decision to engage with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to addressing the problem.
Worldwide Strict Approach Pushed
The group is pushing for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who admits to or is found guilty of sexually 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 world" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey stated.
Legacy Issue
The new Pope, who assumed the role in May, has inherited this longstanding problem that has haunted the Church for decades.
Previous efforts to address the situation included an historic meeting on child abuse within the Church and revisions to church laws to clearly outlaw abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For Hickey, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The Canadian activist shared they were abused by a clergy member who was later transferred between various churches.
"We trust this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to collaborate with him," they stated. "Both sides share the same goal, we want to end clergy abuse."
Significant Meeting
Seven members of the organization, which includes victims and advocates from over thirty countries, met with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The meeting, initially planned for a brief period, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was described as "quite empathetic" when listening to the story of a woman abused at a church-run institution for native youth in North America.
They added the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal experience and appeared "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," they commented. "I believed like he was sincere, realistic, and very open and keen to work with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The group is advocating that revisions 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 the pontiff.
"He appeared interested in looking at it," Hickey noted.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recent church-ordered document emphasized the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or dismissal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of abuse or negligence."
The report also pointed out that victims consistently emphasized the "urgent need for bishops and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."
Path Ahead
The representative revealed they informed the pontiff at the start of their meeting: "This represents as much a risk for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the encounter, they voiced optimism for future change.
"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, coming together and building a relationship and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a step in the right direction," they stated.
Hickey concluded that they told with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can alter how the narrative ends - he valued that."
