Individuals who endured sexual abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism following their first encounter with the new Pope at the Holy See.
The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the Pope's decision to meet with them so soon in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to addressing the issue.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The organization is pushing for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would defrock any priest who admits to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pope recognized that there is "opposition in certain regions of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is resistance," they remarked.
Legacy Issue
The new Pope, who took the role in spring, has taken on this persistent issue that has plagued the Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the problem included an unprecedented meeting on paedophilia within the Church and changes to canon law to clearly outlaw abuse.
Personal Connection
For the representative, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The Canadian activist revealed they were abused by a clergy member who was later transferred between different parishes.
"We trust this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we aim to collaborate with him," they expressed. "We have the common objective, we seek to eliminate clergy abuse."
Historic Encounter
Seven representatives of the coalition, which represents survivors and supporters from more than 30 countries, engaged with the Pope in his official residence.
The discussion, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The Pope was characterized as "quite empathetic" when hearing the story of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.
They added the leader was "compassionate" about their own story and appeared "modest, 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," Hickey commented. "I felt like he was sincere, realistic, and very open and keen to work with us."
Canon Law Reforms
The group is advocating that changes to church regulations will enable the adoption of the strict approach globally.
They have spoken with experts and gathered documents that they plan to submit to the pontiff.
"He appeared engaged in looking at it," they noted.
Accountability Emphasized
A recently released Vatican-commissioned report highlighted the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or removal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The document also pointed out that survivors repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Path Ahead
The representative revealed they told the Pope at the start of their meeting: "This is as much a challenge for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
Following the encounter, they expressed hope for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, uniting and establishing a connection and continuing to build that bond 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 believe like we can change how the narrative ends - he valued that."
