Pope Leo holds first meeting with survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy

VATICAN CITY – Pope Leo XIV met survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy for the first time on Oct 20, participants said, days after the Vatican’s child protection commission accused senior Church leaders of being too slow to help victims.

Pope Leo held a meeting with Ending Clergy Abuse, an international coalition of survivors, the group said.

The encounter, which included four victims and two advocates, lasted about an hour with “a significant moment of dialogue”, it added.

The 1.4 billion-member Church has been shaken for decades by scandals across the world involving abuse and cover-up, damaging its credibility and costing it hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements.

An unusually critical report from the Vatican’s own child protection commission, issued on Oct 16,

faulted senior bishops for not providing information to victims

about how their reports of abuse were being handled, or whether negligent bishops had been sanctioned.

Ms Gemma Hickey, a Canadian survivor who took part in the meeting on Oct 20, said Pope Leo met the victims in his office at the Vatican’s apostolic palace, took pictures with them, and listened carefully.

“Pope Leo is very warm; he listened,” said Ms Hickey. “We told him that we come as bridge-builders, ready to walk together towards truth, justice and healing.”

Ms Janet Aguti, a Ugandan survivor who was also at the meeting, said: “I left the meeting with hope. It is a big step for us.”

Pope discusses zero-tolerance law

Pope Leo, the first US pope, was

elected on May 8 to replace the late Pope Francis

.

Survivors said he told them he was still coming to grips with the enormity of the Church’s scandals.

“I think he is still in a phase where he is trying to find out how to best address these issues,” said Mr Matthias Katsch.

“The times where a pope is saying one sentence and everything is settled is over,” Mr Katsch added.

Meeting participants said they asked Pope Leo to create a global zero-tolerance policy for priests accused of abuse, something survivors have pushed for.

Mr Timothy Law, an Ending Clergy Abuse co-founder, said he mentioned to Pope Leo that US bishops have a zero-tolerance law, which was enacted in 2002 after extensive reporting on abuse scandals in Boston.

“Why can’t we make it universal?” Mr Law said he asked the Pope.

Pope Leo, the former Cardinal Robert Prevost, is known to have met survivors earlier in his career, when he was a missionary and bishop in Peru.

Pope Francis, who died in April

, made addressing abuse by clergy a priority of his 12-year papacy, with mixed results. REUTERS