People who endured sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have voiced renewed hope after their first meeting with the new Pope at the Vatican.
The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the Pope's choice to engage with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to addressing the problem.
Global Zero-Tolerance Policy Advocated
The group is advocating for a global zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any priest who confesses to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This policy has already been adopted in the US.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the globe" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is pushback," Hickey stated.
Inherited Issue
The current pontiff, who took the position in May, has taken on this longstanding problem that has plagued the Church for decades.
Earlier attempts to address the situation included an historic meeting on child abuse within the Church and changes to church laws to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For Hickey, who uses they/them pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the measure is personal. The Canadian advocate shared they were victimized by a priest who was subsequently moved between various churches.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we want to collaborate with him," they stated. "Both sides share the same goal, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Multiple representatives of the organization, which represents survivors and supporters from over thirty countries, met with the Pope in his Vatican office.
The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, lasted to a full hour, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The Pope was characterized as "quite empathetic" when listening to the account of a female survivor victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in Canada.
They added the leader was "compassionate" about their personal experience and appeared "modest, funny, and approachable."
"Victims have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," Hickey stated. "I felt like he was sincere, practical, and receptive and eager to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The organization is hoping that revisions to canon law will facilitate the implementation of the strict approach worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and gathered documents that they will present to the pontiff.
"He seemed interested in looking at it," they noted.
Accountability Emphasized
A recent Vatican-commissioned document emphasized the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the resignation and/or dismissal of Church leaders or staff in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The document also pointed out that survivors consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for bishops and major superiors to be made responsible for inaction and concealment."
Moving Forward
The representative shared they informed the Pope at the start of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the encounter, they expressed optimism for future change.
"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, coming together and building a relationship and continuing to build that bond is a move in the correct path," they stated.
They concluded that they told with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can alter how the story ends - he valued that."
