People who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism following their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
The board president, heading the anti-abuse organization, commented that the pontiff's choice to meet with them so soon in his papacy spoke volumes about his dedication to tackling the problem.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The organization is advocating for a worldwide strict approach that would defrock any clergy member who confesses to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the world" to this proposal, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey stated.
Inherited Issue
The new Pope, who assumed the position in spring, has inherited this persistent issue that has plagued the Church for many years.
Earlier attempts to resolve the situation included an historic meeting on child abuse within the Church and revisions to canon law to clearly outlaw abuse.
Personal Link
For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the policy is deeply meaningful. The North American advocate revealed they were abused by a clergy member who was later transferred between various churches.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his leadership, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey stated. "We have the common objective, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."
Historic Meeting
Multiple members of the coalition, which includes victims and advocates from over thirty countries, met with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The pontiff was described as "very understanding" when hearing the story of a woman victimized at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in Canada.
They noted the leader was "tender" about their own story and seemed "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," they stated. "I felt like he was sincere, realistic, and receptive and eager to work with us."
Canon Law Reforms
The organization is hoping that changes to canon law will facilitate the implementation of the strict approach globally.
They have consulted experts and gathered documents that they plan to submit to the pontiff.
"He appeared engaged in looking at it," they remarked.
Accountability Emphasized
A recently released church-ordered document highlighted the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the resignation and/or dismissal of religious officials or staff in cases of abuse or negligence."
The report also pointed out that survivors consistently emphasized the "urgent need for church leaders and senior officials to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."
Path Ahead
The representative shared they told the pontiff at the beginning of their meeting: "This is as much a risk for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the meeting, Hickey expressed hope for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, uniting and establishing a relationship and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a step in the correct path," they commented.
They added that they shared with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the narrative ends - he valued that."
