People who experienced abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism after their first encounter with the new Pope 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 spoke volumes about his dedication to tackling the issue.
Global Strict Approach Pushed
The organization is advocating for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who confesses to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a minor. This policy has been implemented in the United States.
The Pope recognized that there is "opposition in some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is resistance," Hickey remarked.
Inherited Issue
The current pontiff, who assumed the role in spring, has taken on this longstanding issue that has plagued the Catholic Church for many years.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an historic meeting on child abuse within the Church and changes to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For Hickey, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the policy is deeply meaningful. The North American advocate revealed they were abused by a clergy member who was subsequently moved between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey expressed. "Both sides share the common objective, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."
Significant Encounter
Multiple representatives of the coalition, which represents survivors and supporters from over thirty countries, met with the Pope in his official residence.
The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The Pope was characterized as "very understanding" when hearing the story 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, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Victims have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," they commented. "I believed like he was sincere, realistic, and very open and eager to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The group is advocating that changes to church regulations will facilitate the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and compiled materials that they plan to present to the pontiff.
"He appeared engaged in reviewing it," they noted.
Accountability Highlighted
A recent church-ordered report emphasized the "importance of a efficient process for the resignation and/or dismissal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of abuse or negligence."
The report also pointed out that survivors repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for bishops and senior officials to be held accountable for inaction and cover-up."
Moving Forward
Hickey revealed they informed the Pope at the beginning of their discussion: "This is as much a challenge for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
After the meeting, they 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 strengthen that relationship is a step in the right direction," Hickey commented.
They concluded that they shared with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can change how the narrative ends - he valued that."
