People who endured abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed fresh optimism following their first meeting with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the pontiff's decision to meet with them so soon in his papacy spoke volumes about his commitment to addressing the problem.
Global Strict Policy Pushed
The organization is pushing for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any priest 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 "opposition in certain regions of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is pushback," they stated.
Inherited Challenge
The new Pope, who took the position in May, has taken on this persistent problem that has plagued the Catholic Church for decades.
Earlier attempts to resolve the problem included an historic summit on child abuse within the Church and revisions to canon law to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For the representative, who uses they/them pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the policy is personal. The North American advocate revealed they were victimized by a clergy member who was later moved between various churches.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to work with him," Hickey expressed. "We have the common objective, we seek to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Historic Encounter
Multiple members of the coalition, which represents victims and advocates from over thirty nations, met with the Pope in his Vatican office.
The discussion, initially planned for 20 minutes, extended to a full hour, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The Pope was characterized as "quite empathetic" when hearing the account of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in Canada.
They added the leader was "tender" about their personal experience and seemed "modest, funny, and approachable."
"Victims have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was making empty promises," they stated. "I believed like he was sincere, realistic, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The organization is advocating that revisions to church regulations will enable the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have spoken with experts and gathered documents that they will submit to the pontiff.
"He appeared interested in looking at it," Hickey remarked.
Accountability Highlighted
A recently released church-ordered report emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or removal of Church leaders or staff in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The report also pointed out that survivors repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for church leaders and major superiors to be held accountable for negligence and concealment."
Path Ahead
The representative revealed they informed the pontiff at the beginning of their meeting: "This is as much a risk for him to participate in a conversation 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, coming together and establishing a connection and persisting to strengthen that bond is a move in the right direction," they commented.
Hickey concluded that they shared with the pontiff: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can alter how the story concludes - he valued that."
