🔗 Share this article Survivors of Church Clergy Sex Abuse Express Hope Following Meeting with Pope Leo End Clergy Abuse Global board members and victims pose in St. Peter Square after the meeting with the Pontiff Individuals who experienced abuse by Catholic clergy have voiced fresh optimism after their initial encounter with the new Pope at the Vatican. Gemma Hickey, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the Pope's decision to engage with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to tackling the problem. Global Zero-Tolerance Approach Advocated The group is pushing for a global zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is proven of sexually abusing a minor. This policy has already been adopted in the US. The Pope recognized that there is "opposition in some parts of the globe" to this initiative, according to the representative. "Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is pushback," they stated. Inherited Issue The current pontiff, who assumed the role in May, has taken on this persistent problem that has plagued the Catholic Church for many years. Previous efforts to address the problem included an unprecedented meeting on paedophilia within the institution and revisions to canon law to explicitly criminalize abuse. Personal Link For the representative, who uses they/them pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the policy is personal. The Canadian activist shared they were victimized by a clergy member who was later moved between different parishes. "Hopefully this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to work with him," they stated. "We have the same goal, we want to end clergy abuse." Significant Meeting Multiple representatives of the coalition, which includes survivors and supporters from more than 30 nations, engaged with the Pope in his Vatican office. The discussion, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "primarily heard to us," according to the representative. The pontiff was characterized as "very understanding" when listening to the account of a woman abused at a church-run institution for native youth in North America. They added the Pope was "compassionate" about their own experience and appeared "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth." "Survivors have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," they stated. "I felt like he was sincere, realistic, and very open and eager to collaborate with us." The Pontiff leads religious service in the Vatican on 19 October Canon Law Changes The organization is advocating that changes to canon law will facilitate the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy globally. They have consulted experts and gathered documents that they plan to present to Pope Leo. "He seemed interested in reviewing it," they noted. Accountability Highlighted A recently released Vatican-commissioned document highlighted the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or dismissal of religious officials or personnel in cases of abuse or failure to act." The report also pointed out that survivors repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for church leaders and senior officials to be held accountable for inaction and concealment." Path Ahead Hickey revealed they informed the Pope at the start of their meeting: "This represents as much a challenge for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us." After the meeting, they expressed optimism for future change. "We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, uniting and establishing a connection and continuing to strengthen that bond is a move in the right direction," they commented. They added that they shared with the pontiff: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can alter how the narrative concludes - he valued that."