🔗 Share this article

People who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope following their first encounter with the new Pope at the Vatican.

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

Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Advocated

The group is pushing for a worldwide strict approach that would defrock any clergy member who admits to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This approach has been implemented in the US.

The Pope recognized that there is "opposition in certain regions of the globe" to this proposal, according to the representative.

"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is resistance," they remarked.

Inherited Issue

The new Pope, who assumed the position in spring, has inherited this persistent problem that has haunted the Catholic Church for decades.

Previous efforts to address the situation included an historic summit on paedophilia within the institution and revisions to canon law to explicitly criminalize abuse.

Personal Link

For the representative, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the policy is deeply meaningful. The Canadian activist shared they were victimized by a clergy member who was subsequently transferred between various churches.

"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we aim to work with him," they expressed. "Both sides share the common objective, we seek to eliminate clergy abuse."

Historic Encounter

Seven members of the coalition, which represents victims and supporters from over thirty countries, engaged with the Pope in his official residence.

The discussion, initially planned 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 victimized at a church-run institution for Indigenous children in North America.

Hickey noted the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal experience and appeared "modest, humorous, and very down to earth."

"Survivors have consistently sought a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," Hickey commented. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and keen to work with us."

Canon Law Reforms

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

They have consulted specialists and gathered documents that they plan to submit to the pontiff.

"He seemed engaged in looking at it," Hickey remarked.

Responsibility Highlighted

A recently released Vatican-commissioned report emphasized the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or removal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of abuse or negligence."

The document also pointed out that survivors repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for bishops and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."

Moving Forward

Hickey revealed they informed the pontiff at the start of their discussion: "This represents as much a challenge for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."

After the meeting, they expressed optimism for progress.

"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, coming together and building a relationship and continuing to build that relationship is a step in the right direction," they commented.

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