Individuals who endured sexual abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope following their initial encounter with the new Pope at the Holy See.
The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the pontiff's decision to meet with them so soon in his papacy spoke volumes about his commitment to addressing the problem.
Global Strict Policy Pushed
The organization is pushing for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would defrock any priest who admits to or is proven of sexually abusing a minor. This policy has been implemented in the United States.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the globe" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is resistance," Hickey stated.
Legacy Issue
The new Pope, who took the position in May, has inherited this persistent problem that has plagued the Church for many years.
Previous efforts to resolve the problem included an historic meeting on child abuse within the Church and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the measure is deeply meaningful. The Canadian activist revealed they were abused by a priest who was later moved between different parishes.
"We trust this will set the tone for his leadership, because we aim to collaborate with him," Hickey expressed. "Both sides share the common objective, we want to end abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Seven representatives of the organization, which represents victims and advocates from over thirty nations, engaged with the Pope in his Vatican office.
The meeting, initially planned for 20 minutes, extended 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 story of a female survivor abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.
They added the leader was "compassionate" about their own experience and appeared "modest, humorous, and approachable."
"Survivors have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," Hickey commented. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and keen to work with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The group is hoping that revisions to church regulations will facilitate the adoption of the strict approach worldwide.
They have consulted specialists and gathered materials that they plan to submit to Pope Leo.
"He seemed interested in reviewing it," they noted.
Accountability Highlighted
A recently released Vatican-commissioned report highlighted the "importance of a efficient process for the resignation and/or dismissal of religious officials or personnel in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The report also pointed out that survivors consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and senior officials to be held accountable for inaction and concealment."
Moving Forward
Hickey 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."
Following the encounter, they expressed optimism for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, coming together and establishing a relationship and continuing to strengthen that relationship is a step in the right direction," they commented.
They concluded that they told with the pontiff: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can alter how the story concludes - he valued that."
