People who experienced abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope following their initial encounter with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
Gemma Hickey, heading the anti-abuse organization, stated that the Pope's decision to meet with them so soon in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to addressing the problem.
Worldwide Strict Approach Advocated
The group is advocating for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who admits to or is found guilty of abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the US.
The Pontiff recognized that there is "opposition in certain regions of the globe" to this proposal, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," Hickey stated.
Inherited Issue
The current pontiff, who took the role in spring, has inherited this persistent problem that has haunted the Church for many years.
Previous efforts to address the situation included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the Church and revisions to canon law to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the measure is personal. The Canadian activist shared they were victimized by a clergy member who was subsequently moved between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we aim to work with him," they stated. "Both sides share the common objective, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Multiple representatives of the coalition, which represents survivors and advocates from over thirty nations, engaged with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The discussion, initially planned for a brief period, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was described as "very understanding" when hearing the account of a female survivor abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.
Hickey noted the leader was "compassionate" about their own experience and seemed "very humble, funny, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," they stated. "I believed like he was sincere, practical, and receptive and keen to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The group is advocating that revisions to canon law will enable the implementation of the strict approach globally.
They have spoken with specialists and gathered documents that they plan to present to Pope Leo.
"He seemed engaged in looking at it," Hickey remarked.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recent Vatican-commissioned document highlighted the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the resignation and/or dismissal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of abuse or negligence."
The document also pointed out that survivors consistently emphasized the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."
Moving Forward
Hickey revealed they told the pontiff at the beginning of their discussion: "This is as much a risk for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
Following the meeting, they voiced hope for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, uniting and building a relationship and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a step in the right direction," they stated.
They concluded that they shared with the pontiff: "Just because it's a difficult period, I believe like we can change how the story concludes - he valued that."