Individuals who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism following their first encounter with the new Pope at the Vatican.
The board president, who leads the anti-abuse organization, stated that the Pope'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 worldwide strict approach that would defrock 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 Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," Hickey remarked.
Inherited Challenge
The new Pope, who took the position in spring, has inherited this longstanding issue that has haunted the Church for decades.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an unprecedented summit on paedophilia within the Church and revisions to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Personal Connection
For the representative, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the measure is deeply meaningful. The North American advocate shared they were victimized by a clergy member who was later moved between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we aim to collaborate with him," Hickey stated. "We have the same goal, we seek to eliminate clergy abuse."
Historic Encounter
Seven representatives of the coalition, which includes survivors and advocates from over thirty countries, met with the Pope in his Vatican office.
The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to Hickey.
The pontiff was described as "quite empathetic" when listening to the account of a female survivor abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.
Hickey noted the leader was "compassionate" about their personal story and appeared "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Victims have consistently sought a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," Hickey commented. "I felt like he was sincere, practical, and very open and eager to work with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The group is advocating that changes to canon law will enable the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and gathered documents that they plan to present to the pontiff.
"He appeared engaged in reviewing it," they noted.
Accountability Emphasized
A recently released Vatican-commissioned report highlighted the "importance 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 noted that victims consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Moving Forward
Hickey shared they told the Pope at the start of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the encounter, they expressed optimism for future change.
"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, coming together and establishing a connection and persisting to build that bond is a move in the correct path," Hickey commented.
They concluded that they told with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a difficult period, I believe like we can alter how the story concludes - he appreciated that."
