Individuals who endured sexual abuse by church officials have voiced fresh optimism following their first encounter with the new Pope at the Vatican.
The board president, heading the anti-abuse organization, stated that the Pope's decision to engage with them so soon in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to addressing the problem.
Global Strict Approach Pushed
The group is pushing for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who confesses to or is proven of abusing a minor. This approach has already been adopted in the US.
The Pope recognized that there is "resistance in certain regions of the world" to this proposal, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," they stated.
Inherited Challenge
The new Pope, who assumed the role in spring, has taken on this persistent issue that has haunted the Catholic Church for many years.
Previous efforts to address the situation included an unprecedented meeting on paedophilia within the Church and changes to canon law to clearly outlaw abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For the representative, who prefers they/them pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the measure is deeply meaningful. The Canadian advocate revealed they were abused by a priest who was subsequently moved between various churches.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his leadership, because we want to work with him," they stated. "We have the same goal, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."
Historic Encounter
Multiple representatives of the organization, which includes survivors and supporters from over thirty countries, met with the Pope in his Vatican office.
The discussion, initially planned for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The pontiff was characterized as "quite empathetic" when listening to the story of a woman victimized at a church-run institution for Indigenous children in Canada.
They added the Pope was "tender" about their own experience and seemed "very humble, funny, and approachable."
"Survivors have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," Hickey commented. "I felt like he was sincere, realistic, and very open and eager to collaborate with us."
Canon Law Reforms
The group is advocating that revisions to church regulations will enable the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and compiled documents that they will present to the pontiff.
"He seemed interested in reviewing it," they remarked.
Accountability Highlighted
A recent Vatican-commissioned report emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or removal of Church leaders or staff in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The document also noted that survivors consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for bishops and senior officials to be made responsible for inaction and cover-up."
Path Ahead
The representative revealed they told the Pope at the start of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
After the meeting, they voiced optimism for progress.
"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, uniting and establishing a connection and continuing to strengthen that relationship is a move in the right direction," they commented.
They concluded that they shared with the pontiff: "Just because it's a difficult period, I believe like we can change how the story ends - he valued that."
