Individuals who experienced abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope following their initial encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
The board president, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the pontiff's choice to meet with them so early in his leadership spoke volumes about his commitment to addressing the issue.
Global Strict Approach Pushed
The organization is pushing for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is proven of sexually abusing a minor. This policy has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "resistance in some parts of the globe" to this proposal, according to the representative.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is pushback," they stated.
Inherited Issue
The current pontiff, who took the position in May, has taken on this longstanding problem that has plagued the Catholic Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the problem included an unprecedented summit on child abuse within the Church and changes to canon law to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Personal Link
For Hickey, who uses they/them pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the measure is personal. The North American advocate shared they were victimized by a priest who was later transferred between various churches.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to work with him," they stated. "We have the same goal, we seek to end clergy abuse."
Historic Encounter
Seven members of the coalition, which includes victims and supporters from more than 30 countries, met with the Pope in his Vatican office.
The discussion, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The pontiff was characterized as "quite empathetic" when listening to the account of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.
They added the Pope was "tender" about their own story and seemed "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Victims have long wanted 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 very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The organization is advocating that changes to canon law will enable the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have spoken with specialists and gathered materials that they plan to submit to the pontiff.
"He appeared interested in reviewing it," Hickey noted.
Responsibility Emphasized
A recently released church-ordered report emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or removal of religious officials or staff in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The report also noted that survivors repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for church leaders and senior officials to be held accountable for inaction and concealment."
Path Ahead
The representative shared they informed the Pope at the beginning of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
Following the meeting, they voiced optimism for future change.
"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, uniting and establishing a relationship and continuing to strengthen that relationship is a step in the right direction," Hickey stated.
Hickey added that they told with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a difficult period, I believe like we can alter how the story concludes - he valued that."
