Individuals who endured abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope after their initial encounter with the new Pope at the Vatican.
The board president, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the Pope's decision to meet with them so soon in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to addressing the problem.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The organization is pushing for a global zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any clergy member who confesses to or is found guilty of abusing a child. This policy has been implemented in the US.
The Pope recognized that there is "opposition in some parts of the globe" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey remarked.
Inherited Issue
The current pontiff, who assumed the role in May, has inherited this longstanding problem that has plagued the Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the situation included an historic summit on paedophilia within the Church and revisions to church laws to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For the representative, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the measure is deeply meaningful. The North American advocate revealed they were victimized by a clergy member who was later moved between various churches.
"We trust this will set the tone for his leadership, because we want to work with him," Hickey expressed. "We have the common objective, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."
Significant Encounter
Multiple members of the organization, which represents survivors and supporters from more than 30 countries, met with the Pontiff 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 "quite empathetic" when hearing the story of a woman victimized at a church-run institution for Indigenous children in Canada.
They noted the leader was "compassionate" about their own experience and appeared "very humble, humorous, and approachable."
"Survivors have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," Hickey stated. "I felt like he was sincere, realistic, and very open and eager to work with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The group is hoping that revisions to canon law will facilitate the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have consulted specialists and compiled documents that they will submit to the pontiff.
"He appeared interested in looking at it," they noted.
Accountability Emphasized
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document highlighted the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or dismissal of religious officials or personnel in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The document also pointed out that survivors repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for bishops and major superiors to be made responsible for inaction and concealment."
Path Ahead
Hickey revealed they told the pontiff at the beginning of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."
After the encounter, they voiced optimism for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, uniting and building a connection and persisting to strengthen that bond is a move in the right direction," Hickey stated.
They added that they shared with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can alter how the narrative concludes - he valued that."
