Individuals who endured sexual abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope following their first encounter with the new Pope at the Vatican.
The board president, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the pontiff's decision to meet with them so early in his papacy sent a strong message about his commitment to addressing the problem.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Advocated
The group is advocating for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who admits to or is found guilty of abusing a child. This policy has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the world" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is pushback," Hickey remarked.
Legacy Issue
The new Pope, who took the role in spring, has inherited this longstanding problem that has haunted the Church for many years.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an unprecedented summit on paedophilia within the institution and revisions to canon law to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Personal Connection
For the representative, who prefers they/them pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the policy is deeply meaningful. The North American advocate revealed they were victimized by a priest who was subsequently moved between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we want to collaborate with him," they stated. "We have the same goal, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."
Significant Meeting
Multiple representatives of the coalition, which represents victims and advocates from over thirty countries, met with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The meeting, initially planned for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was characterized as "quite empathetic" when listening to the story of a woman victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.
Hickey noted the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal experience and appeared "very humble, funny, and approachable."
"Victims have consistently sought a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive 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 organization is advocating that revisions to canon law will enable the adoption of the strict approach worldwide.
They have consulted specialists and gathered materials that they will present to the pontiff.
"He seemed engaged in looking at it," Hickey noted.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recent church-ordered report highlighted the "importance of a efficient process for the resignation and/or removal of religious officials or personnel in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The report also pointed out that survivors repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for inaction and concealment."
Moving Forward
Hickey shared they told the Pope at the beginning of their discussion: "This is as much a challenge for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."
After the meeting, Hickey voiced optimism for progress.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, uniting and building a relationship and continuing to build that bond is a step in the right direction," Hickey commented.
They added that they shared with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can change how the narrative ends - he valued that."
