People who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism following their initial meeting with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
The board president, who leads the anti-abuse organization, stated that the Pope's choice to engage with them so soon in his leadership spoke volumes about his commitment to tackling the issue.
Worldwide Strict Approach Pushed
The organization is advocating for a worldwide strict approach that would defrock any priest who admits to or is proven of sexually abusing a minor. This approach has already been adopted 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 resistance," Hickey remarked.
Legacy Issue
The new Pope, who assumed the position in May, has inherited this longstanding problem that has haunted the Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the problem included an historic meeting on paedophilia within the institution and changes to church laws to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For the representative, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The North American advocate shared they were abused by a priest who was later transferred between various churches.
"We trust this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey expressed. "We have the same goal, we seek to eliminate clergy abuse."
Significant Meeting
Seven members of the organization, which includes victims and advocates from more than 30 countries, engaged with the Pope in his Vatican office.
The meeting, originally scheduled for a brief period, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The pontiff was described as "very understanding" when listening to the account of a female survivor victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in Canada.
Hickey noted the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal story and appeared "modest, funny, and approachable."
"Victims have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," they commented. "I felt like he was sincere, realistic, and very open and keen to work with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The organization is hoping that revisions to church regulations will enable the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have consulted experts and gathered materials that they plan to submit to Pope Leo.
"He appeared engaged in looking at it," they noted.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recent church-ordered document highlighted the "necessity of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or dismissal of religious officials or personnel in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The report also noted that survivors repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."
Moving Forward
The representative shared they told the Pope at the start of their discussion: "This is as much a risk for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the meeting, Hickey voiced optimism for future change.
"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, uniting and establishing a relationship and persisting to build that bond is a step in the right direction," Hickey commented.
They concluded that they shared with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the narrative concludes - he appreciated that."
