Individuals who endured sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed fresh optimism after their first meeting with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
The board president, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the Pope's choice to meet with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to tackling the problem.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Approach Advocated
The group is pushing for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is proven 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 proposal, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," they remarked.
Legacy Challenge
The current pontiff, who assumed the position in May, has taken on this longstanding problem that has haunted the Catholic Church for decades.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an historic meeting on paedophilia within the Church and changes to church laws to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For the representative, who uses they/them pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the measure is personal. The North American activist revealed they were victimized by a clergy member who was subsequently transferred between various churches.
"We trust this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we aim to work with him," Hickey stated. "We have the common objective, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Multiple representatives of the organization, which includes survivors and advocates from over thirty countries, engaged with the Pope in his official residence.
The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a full hour, during which the Pope "primarily heard to us," according to Hickey.
The pontiff was characterized as "very understanding" when listening to the account of a woman abused at a church-run institution for native youth in Canada.
Hickey noted the Pope was "tender" about their personal experience and appeared "very humble, funny, and approachable."
"Survivors 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 sincere, realistic, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The organization is advocating that revisions to church regulations will enable the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have consulted specialists and gathered materials that they plan to present to Pope Leo.
"He appeared interested in looking at it," they remarked.
Responsibility Emphasized
A recently released Vatican-commissioned report emphasized the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or removal of Church leaders or staff in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The document also noted that survivors consistently emphasized the "urgent need for bishops and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Path Ahead
The representative shared they told the Pope at the beginning of their meeting: "This represents as much a risk for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
Following the meeting, Hickey voiced hope for future change.
"We realise 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 move in the right direction," Hickey commented.
They added that they told with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the story concludes - he valued that."
