People who endured abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism following their initial meeting with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
The board president, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the pontiff's choice to engage with them so soon in his leadership spoke volumes about his dedication to tackling the issue.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed
The organization is advocating for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any clergy member who confesses to or is proven of sexually abusing a minor. This policy has already been adopted in the US.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "resistance in some parts of the globe" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is resistance," they remarked.
Legacy Challenge
The current pontiff, who assumed the role in May, has taken on this longstanding issue that has plagued the Catholic Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the situation included an unprecedented summit on paedophilia within the institution and changes to canon law to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Personal Link
For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the policy is deeply meaningful. The North American advocate revealed they were abused by a clergy member who was subsequently transferred between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his papacy, because we aim to work with him," Hickey expressed. "Both sides share the common objective, we want to end clergy abuse."
Significant Meeting
Seven representatives of the organization, which represents survivors and supporters from over thirty nations, met with the Pontiff 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 the representative.
The pontiff was described as "very understanding" when listening to the story of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in Canada.
They noted the Pope was "compassionate" about their own story and appeared "modest, funny, and approachable."
"Victims have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," they commented. "I felt like he was genuine, realistic, and receptive and keen to collaborate with us."
Canon Law Reforms
The organization is advocating that revisions to church regulations will enable the implementation of the strict approach globally.
They have spoken with experts and gathered documents that they will submit to the pontiff.
"He appeared engaged in looking at it," Hickey noted.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document 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 pointed out that survivors repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for church leaders and senior officials to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Moving Forward
Hickey revealed they informed the pontiff at the beginning of their discussion: "This represents as much a challenge for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the encounter, Hickey expressed optimism for future change.
"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, coming together and building a relationship and persisting to strengthen that bond is a move in the right direction," Hickey commented.
They added that they told with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a difficult period, I believe like we can change how the story concludes - he valued that."
