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Individuals who experienced sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have voiced fresh optimism after their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Vatican.

The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the Pope's choice to engage with them so soon in his leadership spoke volumes about his commitment to tackling the issue.

Global Strict Policy Pushed

The organization is pushing for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who admits to or is found guilty 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 globe" to this initiative, according to the representative.

"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey remarked.

Inherited Challenge

The new Pope, who took the position in May, has taken on this persistent issue that has haunted the Church for many years.

Earlier attempts to address the situation included an unprecedented summit on child abuse within the institution and changes to church laws to clearly outlaw abuse.

Deeply Felt Connection

For the representative, who uses they/them pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the measure is deeply meaningful. The Canadian advocate shared they were abused by a clergy member who was subsequently transferred between different parishes.

"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we aim to collaborate with him," they stated. "Both sides share the same goal, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."

Significant Encounter

Multiple representatives of the organization, which represents survivors and supporters from more than 30 countries, engaged with the Pontiff in his official residence.

The discussion, initially planned for 20 minutes, lasted to a full hour, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to Hickey.

The pontiff was described as "quite empathetic" when listening to the story of a woman abused at a church-run institution for Indigenous children in North America.

They added the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal story and seemed "modest, humorous, and very down to earth."

"Survivors have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," they stated. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and receptive and keen to work with us."

Church Regulations Changes

The group is advocating that changes to canon law will facilitate the adoption of the strict approach globally.

They have spoken with specialists and compiled materials that they plan to present to Pope Leo.

"He appeared engaged in reviewing it," they remarked.

Responsibility Highlighted

A recently released Vatican-commissioned document emphasized the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or dismissal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of misconduct or negligence."

The document also noted that victims consistently emphasized the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."

Path Ahead

The representative shared they informed the Pope at the beginning of their discussion: "This is as much a risk for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."

Following the encounter, Hickey voiced hope for progress.

"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, uniting and building a relationship and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a step in the right direction," Hickey commented.

They added that they shared with the pontiff: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can alter how the story concludes - he valued that."