People who endured sexual abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope after their first meeting with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
The board president, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the Pope's choice to engage with them so soon in his leadership spoke volumes about his commitment to tackling the issue.
Global Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed
The organization is advocating for a global zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is found guilty of abusing a child. This approach has been implemented in the US.
The Pontiff recognized that there is "opposition in some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey stated.
Inherited Issue
The current pontiff, who took the role in May, has taken on this persistent problem that has haunted the Catholic Church for decades.
Earlier attempts to address the situation included an unprecedented summit on paedophilia within the institution and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For the representative, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the policy is personal. The Canadian advocate shared they were abused by a clergy member who was subsequently transferred between various churches.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we want to work with him," they expressed. "Both sides share the common objective, we seek to end abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Multiple members of the organization, which includes victims and supporters from over thirty nations, met with the Pope in his Vatican office.
The meeting, originally scheduled for a brief period, 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 woman abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in Canada.
They added the leader was "tender" about their personal story and appeared "modest, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was making empty promises," Hickey stated. "I believed like he was sincere, practical, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Canon Law Reforms
The group is hoping that changes to church regulations will facilitate the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have consulted specialists and compiled materials that they plan to present to the pontiff.
"He seemed engaged in looking at it," Hickey noted.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released church-ordered report emphasized the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or removal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The report also noted that survivors consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for inaction and cover-up."
Path Ahead
The representative revealed they told the Pope at the start of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the meeting, Hickey voiced hope for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, coming together and establishing a connection and persisting to strengthen that bond is a move in the correct path," Hickey stated.
They added that they told with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a difficult period, I believe like we can alter how the story concludes - he valued that."
