Individuals who experienced abuse by church officials have voiced fresh optimism following their first encounter with the new Pope at the Vatican.
Gemma Hickey, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the Pope's choice to engage with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to addressing the problem.
Worldwide Strict Policy Pushed
The organization is pushing for a global zero-tolerance policy that would defrock any priest who admits to or is found guilty of abusing a minor. This policy has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pope recognized that there is "opposition in certain regions of the world" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is pushback," Hickey stated.
Inherited Challenge
The current pontiff, who assumed the role in spring, has taken on this persistent problem that has haunted the Church for many years.
Earlier attempts to address the problem included an historic meeting on child abuse within the Church and revisions to church laws to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For the representative, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the measure is deeply meaningful. The Canadian activist shared they were victimized by a clergy member who was later moved between various churches.
"We trust this will set the tone for his leadership, because we aim to collaborate with him," Hickey stated. "Both sides share the common objective, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."
Historic Encounter
Multiple representatives of the organization, which represents victims and advocates 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 "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The Pope was characterized as "quite empathetic" when listening to the story of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.
They noted the leader was "tender" about their own story and appeared "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," Hickey commented. "I felt like he was sincere, practical, and receptive and keen to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The group is advocating that revisions to canon law will enable the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and compiled documents that they plan to submit to the pontiff.
"He seemed engaged in looking at it," they remarked.
Accountability Highlighted
A recent church-ordered document emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or dismissal of Church leaders or staff in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The report also noted that victims consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Moving Forward
Hickey shared they told the Pope at the beginning of their meeting: "This is as much a challenge for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
Following the meeting, Hickey expressed optimism for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, uniting and building a relationship and persisting to build that bond is a move in the right direction," Hickey commented.
Hickey added that they shared with the pontiff: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can change how the story ends - he valued that."
