People who experienced sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed renewed hope after their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
The board president, who leads the anti-abuse organization, commented that the Pope's decision to meet with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to tackling the issue.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Advocated
The organization is pushing for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who admits to or is proven of abusing a child. This policy has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the world" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," they remarked.
Inherited Challenge
The new Pope, who took the position in spring, has inherited this longstanding issue that has haunted the Church for many years.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an historic summit on child abuse within the Church and changes to canon law to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For Hickey, who uses they/them pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The Canadian activist revealed they were victimized by a priest who was subsequently transferred between various churches.
"We trust this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we aim to collaborate with him," they stated. "We have the same goal, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."
Historic Meeting
Seven members of the coalition, which includes survivors and supporters from more than 30 nations, engaged 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 the representative.
The Pope was described as "very understanding" when hearing the account of a female survivor abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.
They noted the leader was "compassionate" about their personal experience and appeared "very humble, funny, and approachable."
"Survivors have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," Hickey stated. "I felt like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and keen to work with us."
Canon Law Reforms
The organization is advocating that changes to church regulations will enable the implementation of the strict approach worldwide.
They have spoken with specialists and gathered documents that they plan to present to Pope Leo.
"He seemed engaged in reviewing it," they remarked.
Accountability Emphasized
A recent Vatican-commissioned report highlighted the "importance of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or dismissal of Church leaders or staff in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The report also pointed out that victims consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for bishops and major superiors to be held accountable for inaction and concealment."
Path Ahead
The representative shared they informed 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 progress.
"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, coming together and establishing a connection and persisting to build that relationship is a move in the correct path," Hickey commented.
Hickey added that they told with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a difficult period, I believe like we can alter how the narrative ends - he appreciated that."
