People who endured sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have voiced renewed hope after their initial meeting with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
The board president, who leads the anti-abuse organization, stated that the Pope's decision to meet with them so soon 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 defrock any clergy member who confesses to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This approach has been implemented in the US.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the globe" to this proposal, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," they remarked.
Legacy Issue
The new Pope, who assumed the position in May, has inherited this longstanding problem that has haunted the Church for decades.
Earlier attempts to address the situation included an historic meeting on paedophilia within the institution and revisions to church laws to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For Hickey, who prefers they/them pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the measure is personal. The North American advocate revealed they were abused by a clergy member who was subsequently transferred between different parishes.
"We trust this will set the tone for his papacy, because we aim to collaborate with him," Hickey expressed. "Both sides share the same goal, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."
Significant Meeting
Seven representatives of the organization, which represents survivors and supporters from over thirty countries, met with the Pope in his official residence.
The meeting, initially planned for a brief period, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "primarily heard to us," according to Hickey.
The pontiff was characterized as "quite empathetic" when hearing the account of a woman victimized at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.
They noted the leader was "tender" about their personal story and seemed "very humble, funny, and approachable."
"Victims have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," they commented. "I felt like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Canon Law Reforms
The group is advocating that revisions to church regulations will enable the adoption of the strict approach globally.
They have consulted specialists and compiled documents that they plan to submit to the pontiff.
"He appeared engaged in looking at it," they remarked.
Responsibility Emphasized
A recently released church-ordered report highlighted the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the resignation and/or dismissal of religious officials or staff in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The document also noted that survivors consistently emphasized the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for inaction and concealment."
Path Ahead
The representative revealed they told the Pope at the beginning of their discussion: "This represents as much a challenge for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the encounter, Hickey expressed hope for progress.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, uniting and building a relationship and persisting to build that bond is a step in the right direction," Hickey stated.
They added that they told with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a difficult period, I believe like we can alter how the story ends - he valued that."
