People who endured sexual abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism after their initial encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
The board president, who leads the anti-abuse organization, 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 problem.
Global Strict Policy Advocated
The group is pushing for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any clergy member who admits to or is proven of sexually abusing a minor. This approach has already been adopted in the US.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "opposition in certain regions of the globe" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is pushback," Hickey stated.
Legacy Issue
The new Pope, who assumed the role in spring, has taken on this longstanding issue that has plagued the Catholic Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the problem included an unprecedented summit on child abuse within the Church and revisions to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Personal Connection
For Hickey, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The North American advocate shared they were victimized by a priest who was subsequently transferred between various churches.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to work with him," Hickey stated. "We have the same goal, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Historic Encounter
Multiple members of the organization, which represents victims and supporters from over thirty nations, met with the Pope in his Vatican office.
The discussion, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was described as "very understanding" when hearing the account of a woman victimized at a church-run institution for native youth in Canada.
Hickey noted the leader was "compassionate" about their personal story and appeared "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Victims have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," Hickey commented. "I believed like he was genuine, practical, and very open and eager to collaborate with us."
Canon Law Reforms
The organization is advocating that changes to church regulations will facilitate the implementation of the strict approach globally.
They have spoken with experts and gathered documents that they plan to present to Pope Leo.
"He seemed interested in looking at it," they noted.
Responsibility Emphasized
A recently released Vatican-commissioned report highlighted the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or removal of religious officials or personnel in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The document also noted that victims consistently emphasized the "urgent need for bishops and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."
Moving Forward
The representative shared they told the pontiff at the start of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
Following the encounter, they voiced hope for future change.
"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, uniting and building a relationship and persisting to strengthen that bond is a move in the correct path," they commented.
Hickey concluded that they told with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can alter how the narrative ends - he valued that."
