People who endured abuse by church officials have voiced 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 decision to engage with them so soon in his leadership spoke volumes about his commitment to tackling the issue.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed
The organization is advocating for a global zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a child. This policy has been implemented in the United States.
The Pope recognized 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.
Inherited Challenge
The current pontiff, who took the role in May, has inherited this longstanding issue that has plagued the Church for many years.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an unprecedented summit on paedophilia within the Church and revisions to canon law to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For Hickey, who uses they/them pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the policy is deeply meaningful. The North American advocate shared they were victimized by a priest who was later moved between different parishes.
"We trust this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we aim to work with him," they expressed. "We have the common objective, we seek to end clergy abuse."
Significant Encounter
Multiple representatives of the organization, which includes survivors and advocates from over thirty countries, met with the Pope in his official residence.
The meeting, 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 characterized as "quite empathetic" when listening to the account of a woman victimized at a church-run institution for Indigenous children in North America.
Hickey added the Pope was "tender" about their personal story and appeared "very humble, humorous, and approachable."
"Survivors have consistently sought a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," Hickey commented. "I believed like he was sincere, realistic, and receptive and eager to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The organization is advocating that changes to church regulations will facilitate the implementation of the strict approach globally.
They have spoken with experts and gathered documents that they will present to the pontiff.
"He appeared engaged in looking at it," Hickey noted.
Accountability Highlighted
A recent church-ordered document highlighted the "necessity of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or removal of Church leaders or staff in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The report also pointed out that survivors repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for bishops and senior officials to be held accountable for inaction and cover-up."
Path Ahead
The representative shared 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 optimism for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, uniting and building a connection and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a move in the correct path," they stated.
Hickey concluded that they told with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a difficult period, I believe like we can alter how the narrative concludes - he valued that."
