Individuals who endured sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed renewed hope following their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
The board president, heading the anti-abuse organization, commented that the Pope's decision to meet with them so soon in his papacy sent a strong message about his commitment to addressing the problem.
Worldwide Strict Policy Advocated
The organization is pushing for a global strict approach that would defrock any priest who admits 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 some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey remarked.
Inherited Challenge
The current pontiff, who assumed the role in spring, has taken on this persistent problem that has haunted the Church for many years.
Previous efforts to address the situation included an historic meeting on child abuse within the institution and changes to canon law to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the measure is deeply meaningful. The Canadian advocate shared they were abused by a clergy member who was subsequently moved between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we want to work with him," they stated. "We have the same goal, we seek to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Significant Encounter
Multiple representatives of the organization, which includes survivors and supporters from over thirty countries, engaged with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The meeting, initially planned for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The pontiff was characterized as "very understanding" when listening to the story of a female survivor abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.
Hickey noted the leader was "compassionate" about their personal story and appeared "very humble, funny, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," Hickey commented. "I felt like he was sincere, practical, and very open and keen to work with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The group is hoping that changes to church regulations will facilitate the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have spoken with specialists and gathered documents that they will present to the pontiff.
"He seemed engaged in reviewing it," Hickey noted.
Accountability Emphasized
A recently released church-ordered document emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or removal of religious officials or staff in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The report also pointed out that survivors consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for bishops and senior officials to be made responsible for inaction and cover-up."
Path Ahead
The representative revealed they told the pontiff at the beginning of their discussion: "This is as much a risk for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the encounter, Hickey voiced hope for future change.
"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, uniting and building a relationship and continuing to strengthen that relationship is a step in the correct path," Hickey stated.
Hickey added that they shared with the pontiff: "Just because it's a difficult period, I feel like we can alter how the narrative concludes - he appreciated that."
