People who endured sexual abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism after their initial meeting with the new Pope at the Holy See.
The board president, who leads the anti-abuse organization, stated that the pontiff's decision to engage with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to addressing the issue.
Worldwide Strict Approach Advocated
The organization is pushing for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any clergy member who confesses to or is proven of abusing a minor. This approach has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the world" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey remarked.
Legacy Issue
The current pontiff, who took the position in spring, has taken on this longstanding issue that has plagued the Catholic Church for decades.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an historic meeting on paedophilia within the Church and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For Hickey, who prefers they/them pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the measure is deeply meaningful. The Canadian activist revealed they were victimized by a clergy member who was later moved between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey stated. "We have the common objective, we want to end clergy abuse."
Significant Meeting
Seven members of the coalition, which includes victims and supporters from over thirty nations, met with the Pope in his Vatican office.
The discussion, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to Hickey.
The Pope was characterized as "very understanding" when listening to the account of a woman abused at a church-run institution for native youth in North America.
Hickey noted the leader was "compassionate" about their own experience and seemed "modest, funny, and approachable."
"Victims have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," they stated. "I felt like he was genuine, practical, and very open and eager to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The group is hoping that revisions to church regulations will facilitate the implementation of the strict approach globally.
They have consulted specialists and gathered documents that they will submit to Pope Leo.
"He seemed interested in reviewing it," Hickey noted.
Accountability Emphasized
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document highlighted the "necessity of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or removal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The report also pointed out that victims consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for bishops and major superiors to be made responsible for inaction and concealment."
Path Ahead
Hickey revealed they told the pontiff at the beginning of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."
After the meeting, Hickey expressed hope for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, uniting and building a relationship and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a step in the right direction," Hickey stated.
They concluded that they told with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the story ends - he valued that."
