🔗 Share this article

Individuals who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope after their first meeting with Pope Leo at the Vatican.

The board president, who leads the anti-abuse organization, commented that the Pope's choice to meet with them so early in his papacy sent a strong message about his dedication to addressing the problem.

Global Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed

The organization is advocating for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who admits to or is proven of abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the US.

The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the world" to this initiative, according to the representative.

"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," they remarked.

Legacy Issue

The current pontiff, who assumed the position in May, has inherited this longstanding problem that has haunted the Catholic Church for many years.

Previous efforts to address the problem included an historic meeting on paedophilia within the institution and changes to canon law to clearly outlaw abuse.

Personal Link

For Hickey, who prefers they/them pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the policy is deeply meaningful. The North American advocate shared they were victimized by a priest who was subsequently transferred between various churches.

"We trust this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we aim to collaborate with him," they stated. "Both sides share the common objective, we seek to eliminate abuse by religious officials."

Significant Meeting

Multiple representatives of the organization, which represents victims and supporters from over thirty countries, met with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.

The discussion, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.

The Pope was described as "very understanding" when hearing the story of a female survivor abused at a church-run institution for Indigenous children in Canada.

Hickey added the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal experience and seemed "modest, funny, and approachable."

"Survivors have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," they commented. "I felt like he was sincere, realistic, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."

Canon Law Changes

The organization is advocating that changes to church regulations will facilitate the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy globally.

They have spoken with experts and gathered documents that they will present to the pontiff.

"He appeared engaged in looking at it," they remarked.

Responsibility Highlighted

A recently released church-ordered document emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or dismissal of Church leaders or staff in cases of abuse or negligence."

The report also noted that victims consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and senior officials to be held accountable for negligence and concealment."

Path Ahead

The representative revealed they told the Pope at the start of their meeting: "This is as much a risk for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."

Following the encounter, they expressed optimism for progress.

"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, uniting and establishing a relationship and continuing to strengthen that relationship is a move in the right direction," Hickey stated.

Hickey added that they told with the pontiff: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the narrative concludes - he valued that."