People who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism after their first encounter with the new Pope at the Holy See.
The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the Pope's choice to engage with them so soon in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to addressing the problem.
Worldwide Strict Approach Pushed
The group is advocating for a worldwide strict approach that would defrock any priest who confesses to or is proven of abusing a minor. This policy has already been adopted in the US.
The Pope recognized that there is "opposition in certain regions of the globe" to this proposal, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," they remarked.
Inherited Challenge
The new Pope, who took the role in spring, has inherited this longstanding problem that has plagued the Church for many years.
Earlier attempts to resolve the problem included an historic meeting on child abuse within the Church and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Personal Connection
For the representative, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the measure is deeply meaningful. The North American activist revealed they were victimized by a clergy member who was later transferred between different parishes.
"We trust this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we want to work with him," they stated. "We have the same goal, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Significant Encounter
Multiple members of the organization, which represents survivors and supporters from over thirty nations, met with the Pontiff in his official residence.
The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was characterized as "quite empathetic" when listening to the story of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.
They noted the leader was "compassionate" about their personal experience and appeared "modest, humorous, and approachable."
"Survivors have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was making empty promises," they commented. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and eager to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The group is hoping that changes to canon law will facilitate the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and gathered documents that they plan to submit to Pope Leo.
"He appeared engaged in reviewing it," they noted.
Accountability Highlighted
A recently released church-ordered document emphasized the "importance of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or removal of Church leaders or staff in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The document also pointed out that victims repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for bishops and senior officials to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Moving Forward
Hickey revealed they informed the Pope at the start of their discussion: "This is as much a challenge for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."
After the encounter, Hickey expressed hope for future change.
"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, uniting and establishing a relationship and continuing to build that bond is a move in the right direction," Hickey commented.
They concluded that they shared with the pontiff: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can change how the story ends - he valued that."
