Individuals who endured sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed fresh optimism after their first encounter with Pope Leo 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 commitment to addressing the issue.
Global Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed
The organization is advocating for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a minor. This approach has been implemented in the United States.
The Pontiff recognized that there is "resistance in certain regions of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey stated.
Legacy Issue
The new Pope, who took the role in May, has inherited this longstanding problem that has haunted the Church for decades.
Earlier attempts to resolve the situation included an historic meeting on paedophilia within the Church and changes to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For Hickey, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the measure is deeply meaningful. The North American activist revealed they were abused by a priest who was later moved between different parishes.
"We trust this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we aim to work with him," they expressed. "We have the common objective, we seek to end abuse by religious officials."
Historic Meeting
Multiple representatives of the coalition, which represents victims and supporters from over thirty nations, met with the Pontiff in his official residence.
The discussion, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "primarily heard to us," according to Hickey.
The pontiff was described as "quite empathetic" when hearing the story of a woman victimized at a church-run institution for native youth in North America.
Hickey added the leader was "compassionate" about their own story and appeared "modest, humorous, and approachable."
"Survivors have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," Hickey commented. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Canon Law Changes
The group is advocating that changes to church regulations will enable the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and gathered materials that they plan to submit to Pope Leo.
"He seemed engaged in looking at it," Hickey noted.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or dismissal of religious officials or staff in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The report also pointed out that victims repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for church leaders and senior officials to be held accountable for negligence and concealment."
Moving Forward
Hickey shared they informed the Pope at the start of their meeting: "This is as much a risk for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
Following the meeting, they voiced optimism for progress.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, coming together and building a connection and continuing to strengthen that relationship is a move in the right direction," Hickey commented.
They added that they told with the pontiff: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can change how the narrative concludes - he appreciated that."
