People who endured sexual abuse by church officials have voiced fresh optimism after their initial 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 papacy spoke volumes about his dedication to addressing the problem.
Global Zero-Tolerance Approach Advocated
The group is pushing for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who confesses to or is found guilty of abusing a minor. This approach has been implemented in the US.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the globe" to this proposal, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," they remarked.
Inherited Challenge
The new Pope, who took the position in spring, has inherited this longstanding problem that has haunted the Catholic Church for many years.
Earlier attempts to address the problem included an historic meeting on child abuse within the Church and changes to canon law to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For the representative, who prefers they/them pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the measure is deeply meaningful. The North American advocate shared they were victimized by a priest who was subsequently transferred between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we aim to collaborate with him," Hickey expressed. "We have the same goal, we seek to end abuse by religious officials."
Historic Meeting
Multiple representatives of the coalition, which represents victims and advocates from more than 30 countries, met with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The discussion, initially planned for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "primarily heard to us," according to Hickey.
The pontiff was characterized as "very understanding" when listening to the story of a female survivor abused at a church-run institution for Indigenous children in Canada.
Hickey noted the leader was "tender" about their own story and seemed "very humble, funny, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," Hickey commented. "I believed like he was sincere, practical, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Canon Law Changes
The organization is advocating that revisions to church regulations will facilitate the implementation of the strict approach globally.
They have spoken with experts and gathered documents that they plan to present to the pontiff.
"He seemed engaged in looking at it," they noted.
Accountability Emphasized
A recently released church-ordered document emphasized the "importance of a efficient process for the resignation and/or removal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of abuse or negligence."
The document also pointed out that survivors consistently emphasized the "urgent need for bishops and major superiors to be held accountable for negligence and concealment."
Path Ahead
Hickey shared they informed the pontiff at the beginning of their discussion: "This represents as much a challenge for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the meeting, they voiced optimism for progress.
"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, uniting and establishing a connection and persisting to strengthen that bond is a step in the right direction," they stated.
Hickey concluded that they shared with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can alter how the story concludes - he appreciated that."
