Individuals who endured abuse by church officials have voiced fresh optimism following their first encounter with the new Pope at the Holy See.
The board president, heading the anti-abuse organization, commented that the pontiff's decision to engage with them so early in his leadership spoke volumes about his commitment to tackling the issue.
Global Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The organization is pushing for a worldwide strict approach that would defrock any priest who admits to or is proven of abusing a minor. This approach has already been adopted in the US.
The Pontiff recognized that there is "opposition in some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey remarked.
Inherited Issue
The current pontiff, who assumed the role in spring, has taken on this longstanding problem that has haunted the Church for many years.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an historic meeting on child abuse within the Church and revisions to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For Hickey, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the measure is deeply meaningful. The North American advocate shared they were victimized by a clergy member who was later transferred between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his papacy, because we aim to work with him," they stated. "We have the same goal, we seek to end clergy abuse."
Historic Encounter
Multiple members of the coalition, which includes victims and advocates from more than 30 nations, met with the Pope in his official residence.
The meeting, 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 account of a female survivor abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in Canada.
They noted the leader was "compassionate" about their personal story and appeared "very humble, humorous, and approachable."
"Victims have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," they commented. "I believed like he was genuine, practical, and receptive and keen to work with us."
Canon Law Reforms
The group is advocating that revisions to church regulations will facilitate the adoption of the strict approach worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and compiled materials that they plan to present to Pope Leo.
"He appeared interested in looking at it," they remarked.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released church-ordered document highlighted the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or removal of religious officials or personnel in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The report also noted that victims consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and senior officials to be held accountable for negligence and cover-up."
Path Ahead
The representative shared they told the Pope at the start of their discussion: "This is as much a risk for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."
After the meeting, they voiced hope for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, coming together and building a connection and persisting to build that bond is a move in the correct path," they stated.
Hickey added that they shared with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the story ends - he valued that."
