🔗 Share this article Victims of Church Religious Sex Abuse Voice Optimism After Meeting with the Pontiff End Clergy Abuse Global representatives and survivors pose in St. Peter Square following the meeting with Pope Leo Individuals who endured sexual abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope following their first meeting with the new Pope at the Vatican. Gemma Hickey, heading the anti-abuse organization, commented that the pontiff's choice to meet with them so early in his papacy spoke volumes about his commitment to addressing the issue. Global Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed The group is advocating for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would defrock any priest who admits to or is proven of abusing a child. This policy has already been adopted in the US. The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "opposition in some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey. "Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is pushback," Hickey stated. Legacy Challenge The current pontiff, who took the position in spring, has inherited this longstanding problem that has haunted the Catholic Church for decades. Earlier attempts to address the problem included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the institution and revisions to church laws to clearly outlaw 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 advocate shared they were abused by a clergy member who was later transferred between different parishes. "We trust this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we aim to work with him," they stated. "Both sides share the common objective, we want to end abuse by religious officials." Significant Encounter Multiple members of the coalition, which includes survivors and supporters from over thirty countries, met with the Pontiff in his official residence. The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to the representative. The Pope was described as "quite empathetic" when hearing the account of a female survivor victimized at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America. They noted the Pope was "tender" about their own experience and appeared "modest, humorous, and approachable." "Survivors have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," Hickey stated. "I believed like he was sincere, practical, and very open and eager to collaborate with us." The Pontiff leads religious service in Vatican City on recently Church Regulations Reforms The organization is hoping 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 submit to the pontiff. "He appeared interested in looking at it," Hickey noted. Responsibility Emphasized A recent church-ordered report highlighted the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or dismissal of religious officials or personnel in cases of abuse or failure to act." The report also noted that victims consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and senior officials to be made responsible for inaction and cover-up." Moving Forward The representative shared they informed the Pope at the beginning of their meeting: "This is as much a risk for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us." After the meeting, they expressed optimism for progress. "We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, coming together and building a relationship and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a move in the right direction," they commented. They added that they shared with the pontiff: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can change how the narrative ends - he appreciated that."