People who experienced abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope after their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
The board president, heading the anti-abuse organization, stated that the pontiff's decision to engage with them so soon in his papacy sent a strong message about his commitment to addressing the problem.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The group is advocating for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is proven of abusing a minor. This approach has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the globe" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," they remarked.
Legacy Challenge
The new Pope, who assumed the position in spring, has inherited this persistent problem that has plagued the Catholic Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the situation included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the Church and changes to canon law to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Personal Link
For the representative, who prefers they/them pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The North American activist revealed they were victimized by a clergy member who was subsequently moved between different parishes.
"We trust this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we aim to work with him," Hickey expressed. "Both sides share the common objective, we want to end abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Multiple representatives of the coalition, which includes victims and supporters from over thirty nations, engaged with the Pope in his Vatican office.
The discussion, initially planned for a brief period, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.
The pontiff was described as "very understanding" when hearing the story of a female survivor victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.
They noted the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal experience and appeared "modest, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Victims have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was making empty promises," they stated. "I felt like he was genuine, realistic, and receptive and keen to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The group is hoping that changes to canon law will enable the implementation of the strict approach globally.
They have spoken with specialists and compiled documents that they will present to Pope Leo.
"He seemed interested in looking at it," they noted.
Accountability Emphasized
A recently released church-ordered document emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or removal of religious officials or staff in cases of abuse or negligence."
The document also pointed out that survivors repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for inaction and concealment."
Path Ahead
The representative shared they told the Pope at the beginning of their meeting: "This is as much a challenge for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
After 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," Hickey commented.
Hickey added that they shared with the pontiff: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can change how the story concludes - he appreciated that."
