Individuals who endured sexual abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope following their first encounter with the new Pope at the Vatican.
The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the pontiff's choice to meet with them so early in his leadership spoke volumes about his dedication to tackling the issue.
Global Strict Policy Advocated
The organization is pushing for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would defrock any priest who confesses to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a minor. This approach has been implemented in the United States.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "opposition in some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," Hickey remarked.
Legacy Issue
The new Pope, who assumed the role in spring, has inherited this persistent issue that has haunted the Catholic Church for many years.
Previous efforts to address the situation included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the Church and changes to canon law to clearly outlaw abuse.
Personal Link
For the representative, who prefers they/them pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the policy is deeply meaningful. The Canadian activist revealed they were victimized by a clergy member who was subsequently transferred 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 want to end abuse by religious officials."
Historic Encounter
Multiple members of the organization, which includes survivors and supporters from over thirty countries, met with the Pontiff in his official residence.
The meeting, initially planned for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was described as "quite empathetic" when listening to the account of a woman victimized at a church-run institution 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 consistently sought a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," Hickey commented. "I believed like he was sincere, realistic, and receptive and keen to work with us."
Canon Law Changes
The group is hoping that revisions to church regulations will enable the adoption of the strict approach worldwide.
They have spoken with specialists and gathered documents that they will submit to Pope Leo.
"He appeared engaged in reviewing it," they noted.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released Vatican-commissioned report highlighted the "necessity of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or dismissal of Church leaders or staff in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The document also pointed out that victims consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and senior officials to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Path Ahead
Hickey shared they told the pontiff at the beginning of their meeting: "This represents as much a challenge for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the meeting, they expressed 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 relationship is a move in the correct path," they commented.
Hickey added that they told with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can alter how the narrative concludes - he valued that."
