People who endured sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed renewed hope after their first encounter with the new Pope at the Holy See.
The board president, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the pontiff's decision to engage with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to tackling the issue.
Global Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The organization is advocating for a global strict approach that would defrock any clergy member who admits to or is found guilty of abusing a minor. This policy has been implemented in the United States.
The Pontiff recognized that there is "opposition in some parts of the globe" to this proposal, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is resistance," Hickey remarked.
Inherited Challenge
The current pontiff, who took the role in May, has taken on this persistent issue that has haunted the Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the problem included an historic meeting on child abuse within the institution and changes to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The North American advocate revealed they were abused by a priest who was later transferred between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we want to work with him," Hickey expressed. "Both sides share the common objective, we seek to eliminate clergy abuse."
Historic Meeting
Multiple representatives of the organization, which represents survivors and advocates from more than 30 countries, met with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The discussion, initially planned for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.
The pontiff was described as "very understanding" when listening to the account of a female survivor abused at a church-run institution for native youth in North America.
They added the leader was "tender" about their personal story and appeared "very humble, funny, and very down to earth."
"Victims have consistently sought a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," Hickey commented. "I felt like he was sincere, realistic, and receptive and keen to work with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The organization is advocating that changes to canon law will enable the adoption of the strict approach worldwide.
They have spoken with specialists and gathered documents that they plan to present to the pontiff.
"He seemed engaged in looking at it," Hickey remarked.
Responsibility Emphasized
A recently released church-ordered document highlighted the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or removal of religious officials or staff in cases of abuse or negligence."
The report also pointed out that victims repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be held accountable for inaction and concealment."
Moving Forward
The representative shared they told the pontiff at the beginning of their meeting: "This is as much a risk for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the encounter, they voiced 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 establishing a connection and persisting to build that relationship is a step in the right direction," they commented.
Hickey added that they told with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can change how the story concludes - he valued that."
