Individuals who experienced sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed renewed hope following their first meeting with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
The board president, heading the anti-abuse organization, commented that the Pope's choice to engage with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to tackling the issue.
Worldwide Strict Policy Pushed
The organization is pushing for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who confesses to or is proven of abusing a child. This policy has been implemented in the US.
The Pope recognized that there is "resistance in certain regions of the world" to this proposal, according to the representative.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is resistance," Hickey stated.
Legacy Challenge
The new Pope, who took the role in spring, has inherited this longstanding issue that has plagued the Church for many years.
Earlier attempts to address the problem included an unprecedented summit on child abuse within the institution and changes to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the policy is deeply meaningful. The North American advocate revealed they were abused by a priest who was subsequently moved between various churches.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his papacy, because we aim to work with him," Hickey expressed. "Both sides share the same goal, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."
Historic Encounter
Multiple representatives of the coalition, which includes victims and advocates from more than 30 countries, engaged with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The meeting, originally scheduled for a brief period, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was characterized as "very understanding" when hearing the account of a female survivor abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in Canada.
Hickey added the leader was "tender" about their personal story and seemed "very humble, funny, 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 commented. "I believed like he was sincere, practical, and very open and keen to work with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The group is hoping that revisions to church regulations will enable the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and compiled materials that they plan to submit to Pope Leo.
"He seemed engaged in reviewing it," Hickey remarked.
Accountability Emphasized
A recently released church-ordered report emphasized the "importance of a efficient process for the resignation and/or dismissal of religious officials or personnel in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The document also noted that survivors consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and major superiors to be held accountable for inaction and cover-up."
Moving Forward
The representative shared they informed the pontiff at the beginning of their meeting: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the meeting, they expressed hope for future change.
"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, coming together and building a relationship and persisting to build that relationship is a step in the correct path," they stated.
They concluded that they shared with the pontiff: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can change how the narrative concludes - he appreciated that."
