People who endured sexual abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope after their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the pontiff's choice to meet with them so soon in his papacy sent a strong message about his dedication to tackling the issue.
Global Strict Policy Pushed
The organization is pushing for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is proven of sexually abusing a minor. This approach has already been adopted in the US.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "opposition in some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is resistance," they stated.
Legacy Challenge
The new Pope, who assumed the role in spring, has inherited this longstanding problem that has plagued the Church for many years.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an historic meeting on child abuse within the institution and revisions to church laws to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For Hickey, who prefers they/them pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the measure is personal. The North American advocate revealed they were abused by a priest who was subsequently moved between various churches.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we want to work with him," they expressed. "Both sides share the common objective, we seek to end clergy abuse."
Significant Encounter
Multiple members of the organization, which represents victims and advocates from over thirty nations, met with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The discussion, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was described as "quite empathetic" when hearing the story of a female survivor abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in Canada.
Hickey added the Pope was "compassionate" about their own story and appeared "modest, funny, and approachable."
"Victims have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," Hickey stated. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Canon Law Changes
The group is advocating that revisions to church regulations will enable the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have spoken with specialists and gathered documents that they will present to the pontiff.
"He seemed interested in looking at it," they noted.
Accountability Emphasized
A recent church-ordered document highlighted the "necessity of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or dismissal of religious officials or staff in cases of abuse or negligence."
The report also noted that survivors consistently emphasized the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Moving Forward
Hickey shared they informed the Pope at the start of their discussion: "This represents as much a challenge for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the encounter, Hickey voiced hope for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, uniting and establishing a connection and persisting to build that relationship is a step in the right direction," Hickey commented.
They concluded that they told with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can alter how the narrative ends - he appreciated that."
