People who experienced abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope following their initial meeting with the new Pope at the Holy See.
The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the pontiff's choice to meet with them so early in his papacy spoke volumes about his commitment to addressing the problem.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The group is pushing for a worldwide strict approach that would defrock any priest who confesses to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a child. This approach has been implemented in the United States.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "opposition in certain regions of the world" to this proposal, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," they remarked.
Inherited Issue
The current pontiff, who assumed the role in spring, has inherited this persistent issue that has plagued the Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the situation included an historic summit on child abuse within the institution and revisions to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For Hickey, who prefers they/them pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the measure is personal. The Canadian activist shared they were abused by a clergy member 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 seek to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Multiple members of the organization, which represents victims and supporters from more than 30 nations, met with the Pope in his official residence.
The discussion, initially planned for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The pontiff was characterized as "very understanding" when listening to the story of a female survivor victimized at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in Canada.
Hickey noted the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal experience and seemed "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was making empty promises," Hickey commented. "I felt like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and eager to work with us."
Canon Law Reforms
The organization is advocating that changes to church regulations will facilitate the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have spoken with specialists and compiled documents that they plan to submit to Pope Leo.
"He seemed engaged in looking at it," they remarked.
Accountability Highlighted
A recently released Vatican-commissioned report highlighted the "importance 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 negligence and concealment."
Moving Forward
The representative revealed they informed the pontiff at the beginning of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the meeting, they voiced hope for future change.
"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, uniting and establishing a connection and continuing to build that relationship is a move in the right direction," Hickey stated.
Hickey concluded that they shared with the pontiff: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can change how the narrative concludes - he valued that."
