People who experienced abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism after their initial encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
The board president, heading the anti-abuse organization, stated that the Pope's decision to engage with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to tackling the problem.
Global Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The group is advocating for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who confesses to or is proven of abusing a child. This approach has been implemented in the United States.
The Pope recognized that there is "resistance in some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," they stated.
Inherited Challenge
The new Pope, who took the position in spring, has inherited this longstanding issue that has plagued the Church for decades.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an historic summit on paedophilia within the Church and changes to church laws to clearly outlaw abuse.
Personal Link
For the representative, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the measure is personal. The North American advocate revealed they were abused by a clergy member who was later moved between various churches.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to collaborate with him," they expressed. "We have the same goal, we seek to eliminate clergy abuse."
Significant Meeting
Multiple members of the organization, which includes survivors and advocates from over thirty nations, engaged with the Pope in his official residence.
The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The Pope was characterized as "very understanding" when listening to the account of a female survivor abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.
They added the Pope was "tender" about their personal story and seemed "very humble, humorous, 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, realistic, and receptive and eager to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The group is advocating that revisions to church regulations will facilitate the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have consulted specialists and compiled materials that they will submit to the pontiff.
"He appeared engaged in reviewing it," they noted.
Responsibility Emphasized
A recently released church-ordered document 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 document also noted that survivors consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for bishops and major superiors to be held accountable for negligence and concealment."
Path Ahead
The representative shared they told the pontiff at the beginning of their discussion: "This is as much a risk for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
After the encounter, Hickey expressed hope for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, coming together and establishing a relationship and persisting to build that relationship is a move in the right direction," Hickey stated.
They added that they told with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a difficult period, I believe like we can alter how the narrative concludes - he appreciated that."
