People who experienced abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism following their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
The board president, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the pontiff's choice to meet with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to tackling the problem.
Global Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed
The organization is pushing for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is found guilty of abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "opposition in certain regions of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," Hickey remarked.
Legacy Issue
The new Pope, who assumed the position in spring, has inherited this persistent issue that has haunted the Catholic Church for decades.
Previous efforts to address the situation included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the Church and changes to church laws to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For the representative, who prefers they/them pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The Canadian activist shared they were abused by a clergy member who was subsequently transferred between various churches.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to work with him," Hickey expressed. "We have the same goal, we seek to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Multiple members of the coalition, which represents survivors and advocates from over thirty countries, met with the Pope in his Vatican office.
The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "primarily heard to us," according to Hickey.
The pontiff was described as "quite empathetic" when hearing the account of a woman victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.
Hickey added the leader was "tender" about their personal story and appeared "very humble, funny, and very down to earth."
"Victims have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," they stated. "I believed like he was sincere, practical, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The organization is advocating that revisions to church regulations will enable the implementation of the strict approach globally.
They have spoken with experts and gathered materials that they will present to the pontiff.
"He seemed engaged in reviewing it," Hickey remarked.
Accountability Emphasized
A recent Vatican-commissioned report highlighted the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or dismissal of religious officials or personnel in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The document also pointed out that victims consistently emphasized the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for inaction and concealment."
Moving Forward
Hickey shared they told the pontiff at the beginning of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the encounter, Hickey expressed hope for progress.
"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, coming together and establishing a connection and persisting to strengthen that bond is a step in the correct path," they commented.
Hickey added that they told with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can change how the story concludes - he appreciated that."
