🔗 Share this article Victims of Catholic Religious Sexual Abuse Express Optimism Following Encounter with the Pontiff End Clergy Abuse Global representatives and survivors gather in Vatican Square after the encounter with Pope Leo People who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have voiced fresh optimism after their initial meeting with the new Pope at the Vatican. Gemma Hickey, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the pontiff's choice to engage with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to tackling the issue. Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed 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 approach has already been adopted in the US. The Pope recognized that there is "resistance in certain regions of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey. "We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is resistance," Hickey stated. Legacy Challenge The new Pope, who took the role in May, has taken on this persistent issue that has haunted the Church for decades. Previous efforts to address the situation included an historic summit on paedophilia within the Church and revisions to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse. Personal Link For the representative, who uses they/them pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the policy is deeply meaningful. The North American activist shared they were victimized by a priest who was subsequently transferred between various churches. "Hopefully this will set the tone for his leadership, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey stated. "Both sides share the common objective, we seek to end abuse by religious officials." Historic Encounter Multiple representatives of the organization, which includes victims and advocates from more than 30 countries, engaged with the Pontiff in his official residence. The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, lasted to a full hour, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to Hickey. The pontiff was characterized as "quite empathetic" when listening to the story of a female survivor victimized at a church-run institution for native youth in Canada. They added the leader was "compassionate" about their own experience and appeared "modest, funny, and approachable." "Victims have consistently sought a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," they commented. "I felt like he was sincere, realistic, and receptive and keen to work with us." Pope Leo leads religious service in Vatican City on recently Canon Law Changes The group is advocating that revisions to church regulations will facilitate the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide. They have spoken with experts and compiled documents that they will submit to the pontiff. "He appeared engaged in looking at it," they remarked. Accountability Emphasized A recent church-ordered report emphasized the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or dismissal of religious officials or personnel in cases of abuse or negligence." The report also pointed out that victims repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for church leaders and senior officials to be made responsible for inaction and cover-up." Moving Forward Hickey shared they told the Pope at the start of their discussion: "This is as much a risk for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us." After the meeting, Hickey expressed hope for progress. "We understand 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 build that relationship is a step in the correct path," they stated. Hickey added that they told with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can alter how the narrative concludes - he valued that."