People who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope following their initial meeting with the new Pope at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, who leads the anti-abuse organization, commented that the pontiff's decision to meet with them so soon in his papacy sent a strong message about his dedication to tackling the problem.
Global Strict Approach Advocated
The organization is advocating for a global zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any clergy member who admits to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a child. This policy has been implemented in the United States.
The Pontiff recognized that there is "resistance in certain regions of the globe" to this proposal, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is pushback," Hickey stated.
Inherited Issue
The current pontiff, who took the role in May, has inherited this persistent problem that has haunted the Church for many years.
Previous efforts to address the situation included an historic meeting on child abuse within the Church and changes to canon law to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Personal Link
For Hickey, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the policy is personal. The Canadian activist revealed they were victimized by a priest who was later transferred between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we aim to work with him," they expressed. "Both sides share the same goal, we seek to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Seven representatives of the coalition, which represents survivors and advocates from more than 30 nations, engaged with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The discussion, initially planned for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to Hickey.
The pontiff was described as "quite empathetic" when hearing the story of a female survivor abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in Canada.
Hickey noted the leader was "compassionate" about their personal experience and seemed "modest, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," Hickey stated. "I felt like he was sincere, practical, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The organization is advocating that revisions to church regulations will enable the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have spoken with specialists and gathered documents that they plan to present to the pontiff.
"He appeared engaged in looking at it," Hickey remarked.
Accountability Highlighted
A recently released Vatican-commissioned report emphasized the "importance of a efficient process for the resignation and/or dismissal of religious officials or personnel in cases of abuse or negligence."
The report also noted that victims consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for inaction and cover-up."
Path Ahead
The representative shared they told the pontiff at the beginning of their meeting: "This represents as much a risk for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
After the encounter, Hickey expressed hope for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, coming together and building a relationship and persisting to strengthen that bond is a step in the right direction," Hickey stated.
They concluded that they told with the pontiff: "Just because it's a difficult period, I believe like we can change how the story ends - he valued that."
