Individuals who endured sexual abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope after their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
The board president, heading the anti-abuse organization, stated that the pontiff's choice to meet with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to tackling the issue.
Global Strict Policy Advocated
The organization is advocating for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This policy has already been adopted in the US.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "opposition in some parts of the world" to this proposal, according to the representative.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is resistance," they remarked.
Legacy Challenge
The new Pope, who took the role in May, has taken on this longstanding issue that has haunted the Catholic Church for many years.
Previous efforts to address the situation included an historic meeting on paedophilia within the institution and revisions to canon law to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For the representative, who uses they/them pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the policy is deeply meaningful. The Canadian advocate revealed they were abused by a priest who was later moved between different parishes.
"We trust this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we aim to work with him," Hickey expressed. "We have the same goal, we seek to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Historic Meeting
Multiple representatives of the organization, which represents survivors and supporters from more than 30 countries, engaged with the Pontiff 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 Pope was characterized as "quite empathetic" when hearing the story of a female survivor abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in Canada.
They noted the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal story and appeared "modest, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," Hickey stated. "I believed like he was sincere, practical, and receptive and keen to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The group is advocating that changes to canon law will enable the adoption of the strict approach worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and compiled materials that they plan to present to Pope Leo.
"He seemed interested in reviewing it," Hickey remarked.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released church-ordered report emphasized the "importance of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or dismissal of religious officials or staff in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The document also noted that victims consistently emphasized the "urgent need for church leaders and senior officials to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."
Path Ahead
The representative shared they told the Pope at the beginning of their meeting: "This represents as much a risk for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
Following the encounter, they voiced optimism for progress.
"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, coming together and building a connection and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a step in the right direction," they commented.
Hickey concluded that they told with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a difficult period, I believe like we can change how the narrative ends - he valued that."
