People who endured sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have voiced fresh optimism after their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the Pope's choice to engage with them so soon in his leadership spoke volumes about his commitment to tackling the problem.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Approach Advocated
The group is advocating for a global strict approach that would defrock any priest who admits to or is found guilty of abusing a child. This policy has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pope recognized that there is "opposition in some parts of the globe" to this proposal, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey stated.
Inherited Issue
The new Pope, who assumed the position in spring, has taken on this longstanding problem that has plagued the Church for many years.
Previous efforts to resolve the problem included an unprecedented meeting on paedophilia within the Church and changes to church laws to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Personal Connection
For Hickey, who uses they/them pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the measure is deeply meaningful. The North American activist revealed they were abused by a clergy member who was subsequently transferred between various churches.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we want to work with him," they stated. "We have the same goal, we seek to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Historic Encounter
Multiple representatives of the coalition, which represents victims and advocates from over thirty nations, met with the Pope in his official residence.
The discussion, initially planned for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The pontiff was characterized as "quite empathetic" when hearing the account of a female survivor abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.
They noted the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal story and seemed "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 making empty promises," they commented. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and eager to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The group is hoping that changes to canon law will enable the implementation of the strict approach worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and gathered materials that they plan to present to Pope Leo.
"He seemed engaged in reviewing it," they noted.
Accountability Highlighted
A recently released Vatican-commissioned report emphasized the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or removal of religious officials or staff in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The report also pointed out that victims consistently emphasized the "urgent need for church leaders and senior officials to be held accountable for negligence and concealment."
Moving Forward
The representative revealed they informed the Pope at the start of their discussion: "This is as much a challenge for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the meeting, they expressed optimism for progress.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, uniting and building a relationship and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a step in the right direction," they commented.
They concluded that they told with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can alter how the story ends - he valued that."
