Individuals who endured sexual abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism after their initial meeting with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
The board president, who leads the anti-abuse organization, stated that the pontiff's decision to meet with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to addressing the problem.
Worldwide Strict Approach Advocated
The organization is advocating for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who admits to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a minor. This approach has been implemented in the US.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "resistance in some parts of the world" to this proposal, according to the representative.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is pushback," they stated.
Legacy Issue
The new Pope, who took the position in spring, has taken on this persistent issue that has haunted the Catholic Church for many years.
Earlier attempts to address the problem included an unprecedented meeting on paedophilia within the Church and revisions to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the measure is deeply meaningful. The Canadian advocate revealed they were abused by a clergy member who was later transferred between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his papacy, because we aim to collaborate with him," Hickey stated. "Both sides share the same goal, we seek to end abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Multiple members of the coalition, which represents victims and advocates from more than 30 nations, engaged with the Pope in his official residence.
The discussion, initially planned 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 "quite empathetic" when listening to the account of a female survivor victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.
Hickey noted the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal story and appeared "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 giving us lip service," they stated. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The organization is advocating that revisions to canon law will enable the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have consulted specialists and gathered documents that they plan to present to the pontiff.
"He seemed interested in looking at it," they noted.
Responsibility Emphasized
A recent church-ordered report emphasized the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the resignation and/or removal of religious officials or staff in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The report also pointed out that survivors consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and senior officials to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."
Moving Forward
The representative shared they told the pontiff at the beginning of their meeting: "This is as much a risk for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the encounter, Hickey expressed optimism for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, uniting and building a connection and persisting to build that bond is a move in the right direction," Hickey commented.
Hickey added that they shared with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the narrative concludes - he valued that."
