Individuals who endured abuse by church officials have voiced fresh optimism following their initial encounter with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the pontiff's choice to engage with them so soon in his leadership spoke volumes 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 found guilty of sexually abusing a child. This policy has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "resistance in some parts of the globe" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey stated.
Inherited Issue
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 problem included an historic summit on child abuse within the Church and revisions to canon law to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For the representative, who prefers they/them pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the measure is personal. The Canadian advocate revealed they were victimized by a priest who was subsequently transferred between different parishes.
"We trust this will set the tone for his papacy, because we aim to work with him," they expressed. "We have the same goal, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Historic Meeting
Multiple representatives of the organization, which includes victims and supporters from more than 30 countries, met with the Pontiff in his official residence.
The meeting, initially planned for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was described as "quite empathetic" when hearing the account of a female survivor victimized at a church-run institution for native youth in Canada.
Hickey noted the leader was "compassionate" about their personal experience and seemed "very humble, funny, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was making empty promises," Hickey stated. "I felt like he was sincere, practical, and very open and eager to collaborate with us."
Canon Law Changes
The group is hoping that revisions to canon law will facilitate the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have spoken with specialists and gathered materials that they plan to submit to Pope Leo.
"He seemed engaged in reviewing it," they noted.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released church-ordered report emphasized the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or dismissal of religious officials or personnel in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The report also pointed out that victims repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for bishops and senior officials to be held accountable for negligence and concealment."
Moving Forward
The representative revealed they informed the pontiff at the beginning of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the encounter, Hickey voiced optimism for progress.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, coming together and building a connection and persisting to build that bond is a move in the right direction," they commented.
Hickey added that they told with the pontiff: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can alter how the story concludes - he appreciated that."
