People who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope after their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the Pope's choice to engage with them so early in his papacy sent a strong message about his dedication to addressing the problem.
Global Zero-Tolerance Approach Advocated
The group is pushing for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who admits to or is found guilty of abusing a minor. This approach has already been adopted in the US.
The Pope recognized that there is "resistance in some parts of the world" to this proposal, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is pushback," they stated.
Legacy Issue
The current pontiff, who took the position in spring, has taken on this persistent issue that has haunted the Church for decades.
Earlier attempts to resolve the situation included an historic summit on paedophilia within the Church and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The Canadian advocate shared they were victimized by a clergy member who was subsequently moved between various churches.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we aim to collaborate with him," they stated. "We have the same goal, we seek to end abuse by religious officials."
Significant Encounter
Multiple members of the organization, which represents victims and supporters from over thirty nations, engaged with the Pope in his Vatican office.
The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, lasted to a full hour, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The pontiff was characterized as "quite empathetic" when hearing the account of a woman victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in Canada.
They added the leader was "tender" about their personal experience and appeared "modest, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," they stated. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Canon Law Reforms
The organization is hoping that revisions to canon law will facilitate the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have spoken with experts and gathered documents that they will submit to the pontiff.
"He appeared engaged in reviewing it," Hickey noted.
Accountability Highlighted
A recent Vatican-commissioned document highlighted 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 document also pointed out that survivors repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for church leaders and senior officials to be held accountable for negligence and cover-up."
Moving Forward
The representative revealed they informed the pontiff at the beginning of their meeting: "This is as much a challenge for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."
Following the encounter, Hickey voiced hope for progress.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, coming together and building a relationship and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a step in the right direction," they commented.
Hickey concluded that they told with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can change how the story ends - he valued that."
