Individuals who endured sexual abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope following their first meeting with the new Pope at the Holy See.
The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the pontiff's decision to meet with them so soon in his leadership spoke volumes about his dedication to addressing the issue.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Approach Advocated
The group is pushing for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who confesses to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This policy has already been adopted in the US.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the globe" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is pushback," Hickey stated.
Inherited Issue
The new Pope, who assumed the position in spring, has taken on this longstanding issue that has haunted the Church for decades.
Earlier attempts to resolve the problem included an unprecedented summit on child abuse within the institution and changes to canon law to clearly outlaw abuse.
Personal Link
For Hickey, who prefers they/them pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the measure is personal. The North American advocate shared they were victimized by a priest who was later moved between different parishes.
"We trust this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey expressed. "Both sides share the common objective, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Seven representatives of the coalition, which represents survivors and supporters from over thirty countries, met with the Pope in his Vatican office.
The meeting, initially planned for a brief period, lasted to a full hour, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The Pope was characterized as "very understanding" when listening to the story of a female survivor victimized at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.
Hickey noted the leader was "compassionate" about their own experience and appeared "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Victims 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 sincere, realistic, and receptive and eager to work with us."
Canon Law Changes
The group is advocating that revisions to church regulations will enable the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have consulted specialists and gathered documents that they plan to submit to the pontiff.
"He seemed interested in reviewing it," Hickey remarked.
Responsibility Emphasized
A recently released church-ordered document emphasized the "importance of a efficient process for the resignation and/or removal of religious officials or staff in cases of abuse or negligence."
The report also noted that victims repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for bishops and senior officials to be held accountable for negligence and cover-up."
Moving Forward
The representative revealed they told the Pope at the beginning of their discussion: "This represents as much a challenge for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the encounter, Hickey expressed hope for progress.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, coming together and building a relationship and continuing to strengthen that bond is a move in the correct path," Hickey stated.
They concluded that they shared with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can change how the story concludes - he valued that."
