People who endured abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope after their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the pontiff's decision to meet with them so soon in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to addressing the problem.
Global Zero-Tolerance Approach Advocated
The organization is advocating for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any clergy member who confesses to or is proven of abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "opposition in certain regions of the globe" to this proposal, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is pushback," they stated.
Legacy Issue
The current pontiff, who assumed the position in May, has taken on this persistent problem that has plagued the Catholic Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the situation included an unprecedented summit on child abuse within the institution and changes to church laws to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For the representative, who uses they/them pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the measure is deeply meaningful. The North American advocate shared they were abused by a priest who was subsequently transferred between different parishes.
"We trust this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to collaborate with him," they stated. "We have the common objective, we want to end abuse by religious officials."
Historic Meeting
Seven representatives of the coalition, which represents survivors and supporters from more than 30 countries, engaged with the Pope in his Vatican office.
The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, 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 account of a woman victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in Canada.
Hickey noted the leader was "compassionate" about their personal story and seemed "very humble, funny, and very down to earth."
"Victims have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," they stated. "I felt like he was genuine, practical, and receptive and keen to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The group is advocating that changes to church regulations will facilitate the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and gathered materials that they plan to submit to the pontiff.
"He appeared interested in reviewing it," they remarked.
Accountability Emphasized
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document emphasized the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the resignation and/or dismissal of religious officials or personnel in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The report also noted that survivors repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for church leaders and senior officials to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Moving Forward
The representative revealed they informed the pontiff at the start of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
Following the meeting, they expressed optimism for progress.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, coming together and building a connection and persisting to build that bond is a move in the right direction," they stated.
They added that they shared with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can alter how the story concludes - he valued that."
