People who endured abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed renewed hope following their initial encounter with the new Pope at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, who leads 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 commitment to addressing the issue.
Global Strict Policy Pushed
The group is pushing for a global strict approach that would defrock any priest who admits to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a child. This policy has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "opposition in some parts of the world" to this proposal, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," they stated.
Inherited Issue
The current pontiff, who took the position in spring, has taken on this longstanding problem that has haunted the Church for many years.
Previous efforts to resolve the situation included an historic summit on child abuse within the Church and changes to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For Hickey, who uses they/them pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the policy is personal. The North American advocate revealed they were victimized by a priest who was subsequently moved between various churches.
"We trust this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey expressed. "We have the same goal, we want to end abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Multiple representatives of the coalition, which represents survivors and supporters from over thirty countries, engaged with the Pope in his Vatican office.
The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, lasted to a full hour, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The pontiff was characterized as "quite empathetic" when listening to the account of a female survivor abused at a church-run institution for Indigenous children in North America.
They noted the leader was "tender" about their own experience and appeared "modest, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Victims have consistently sought a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was making empty promises," Hickey commented. "I believed like he was genuine, practical, and very open and eager to work with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The organization is advocating that revisions to church regulations will enable the implementation of the strict approach worldwide.
They have consulted experts and gathered documents that they plan to present to the pontiff.
"He appeared interested in looking at it," Hickey noted.
Accountability Highlighted
A recent Vatican-commissioned report emphasized the "importance of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or dismissal of religious officials or personnel in cases of abuse or negligence."
The report also noted that victims consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and senior officials to be held accountable for inaction and concealment."
Path Ahead
The representative shared they told the pontiff at the start of their meeting: "This is as much a risk for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the encounter, Hickey expressed optimism for progress.
"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, coming together and building a connection and persisting to build that relationship is a step in the correct path," Hickey commented.
Hickey concluded that they told with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a difficult period, I believe like we can alter how the story ends - he valued that."
