People who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism after 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 papacy sent a strong message about his commitment to addressing the issue.
Global Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed
The organization is advocating for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is proven of abusing a minor. This approach has been implemented in the US.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "opposition in some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is pushback," Hickey remarked.
Legacy Challenge
The current pontiff, who took the role in May, has taken on this persistent issue that has haunted the Church for many years.
Previous efforts to address the situation included an historic meeting on paedophilia within the Church and revisions to church laws to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For the representative, who uses they/them pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The North American advocate shared they were abused by a clergy member who was later moved between different parishes.
"We trust this will set the tone for his leadership, because we aim to collaborate with him," they expressed. "We have the same goal, we want to end clergy abuse."
Significant Meeting
Multiple members of the organization, which includes survivors and advocates from more than 30 nations, met with the Pontiff in his official residence.
The meeting, initially planned 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 hearing the account of a female survivor victimized at a church-run institution for native youth in North America.
They noted the leader was "compassionate" about their personal story and appeared "modest, funny, and very down to earth."
"Victims have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," they stated. "I felt like he was genuine, realistic, and receptive and keen to work with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The organization is hoping that changes to canon law will enable the implementation of the strict approach globally.
They have spoken with specialists and compiled materials that they will submit to the pontiff.
"He seemed interested in reviewing it," they noted.
Responsibility Emphasized
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or removal of religious officials or staff in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The report also noted that survivors repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for church leaders and senior officials to be held accountable for negligence and cover-up."
Moving Forward
Hickey shared they informed the Pope at the start of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the encounter, Hickey expressed optimism 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 persisting to build that relationship is a step in the correct path," they commented.
Hickey added that they told with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can alter how the story concludes - he valued that."
