People who endured abuse by Catholic clergy have voiced renewed hope following their first meeting with the new Pope at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the pontiff'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 advocating for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is found guilty of abusing a minor. This approach has already been adopted in the US.
The Pontiff recognized that there is "opposition in certain regions of the world" to this proposal, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is pushback," they stated.
Inherited Challenge
The new Pope, who assumed the role in spring, has taken on this longstanding issue that has haunted the Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the problem included an historic summit on child abuse within the Church and revisions to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For Hickey, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the measure is deeply meaningful. The Canadian activist revealed they were victimized by a priest who was later moved between different parishes.
"We trust this will set the tone for his leadership, because we aim to work with him," Hickey expressed. "We have the common objective, we seek to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Historic Encounter
Multiple representatives of the organization, which represents victims and supporters from more than 30 countries, engaged with the Pope in his official residence.
The meeting, initially planned for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was characterized as "quite empathetic" when hearing the account of a female survivor abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.
They added the Pope was "tender" about their personal experience and seemed "modest, funny, and approachable."
"Survivors have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," Hickey commented. "I felt like he was genuine, practical, and very open and keen to work with us."
Canon Law Reforms
The organization is advocating 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 will present to the pontiff.
"He seemed engaged in looking at it," they remarked.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document emphasized the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or removal of religious officials or staff in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The document also noted that survivors consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for bishops and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."
Path Ahead
The representative revealed they told the pontiff at the start of their meeting: "This is as much a risk for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
After the encounter, Hickey voiced optimism for future change.
"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, uniting and establishing a connection and persisting to build that bond is a step in the right direction," Hickey stated.
They added that they told with the pontiff: "Just because it's a difficult period, I believe like we can alter how the story concludes - he valued that."
