Individuals who experienced abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope after their initial meeting with the new Pope at the Vatican.
Gemma Hickey, who leads the anti-abuse organization, stated that the pontiff's decision to meet with them so soon in his leadership spoke volumes about his dedication to addressing the issue.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The group is pushing for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any clergy member who admits to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a minor. This policy has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the world" to this proposal, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," they stated.
Legacy Issue
The new Pope, who took the position in May, has inherited this longstanding issue that has haunted the Catholic Church for many years.
Earlier attempts to address the problem included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the Church and revisions to canon law to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For the representative, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The North American activist shared they were victimized by a priest who was subsequently moved between various churches.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to work with him," they stated. "We have the same goal, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."
Significant Meeting
Seven representatives of the coalition, which includes survivors and supporters from over thirty countries, engaged with the Pope 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 the representative.
The pontiff was characterized as "very understanding" when hearing the story of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in Canada.
They added the Pope was "compassionate" about their own experience and appeared "very humble, funny, and very down to earth."
"Victims have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," Hickey stated. "I believed like he was genuine, practical, and very open and eager to work with us."
Canon Law Reforms
The group is advocating that revisions to canon law will facilitate the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have spoken with specialists and gathered documents that they plan to present to the pontiff.
"He seemed interested in looking at it," they remarked.
Responsibility Emphasized
A recently released church-ordered document highlighted the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or dismissal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The document also noted that victims repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for bishops and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."
Path Ahead
The representative shared they informed the Pope at the beginning of their discussion: "This is as much a risk for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the encounter, Hickey expressed optimism 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 establishing a connection and persisting to strengthen that bond is a move in the right direction," Hickey stated.
They added that they told with the pontiff: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can change how the story ends - he valued that."
