People who endured sexual abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope following their first meeting with the new Pope at the Vatican.
The board president, who leads the anti-abuse organization, commented that the Pope's choice to engage with them so soon in his leadership spoke volumes about his commitment to addressing the issue.
Global Zero-Tolerance Policy Advocated
The organization is pushing for a global zero-tolerance policy that would defrock any priest who admits to or is proven of abusing a child. This policy has been implemented in the United States.
The Pontiff recognized that there is "resistance in some parts of the globe" to this proposal, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is pushback," Hickey stated.
Inherited Challenge
The current pontiff, who took the position in spring, has taken on this longstanding issue that has plagued the Church for many years.
Earlier attempts to address the problem included an historic meeting on child abuse within the Church and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the measure is deeply meaningful. The North American activist revealed they were victimized by a clergy member who was subsequently moved between various churches.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his leadership, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey stated. "We have the common objective, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."
Historic Meeting
Multiple representatives of the coalition, which includes victims and advocates from more than 30 nations, engaged with the Pontiff in his official residence.
The discussion, initially planned for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The pontiff was characterized as "very understanding" when listening to the account of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.
Hickey added the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal story and seemed "very humble, humorous, and approachable."
"Survivors have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," they stated. "I felt like he was sincere, practical, and very open and eager to work with us."
Canon Law Reforms
The organization is advocating that revisions to canon law will enable the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have consulted experts and compiled materials that they plan to submit to Pope Leo.
"He appeared interested in looking at it," they noted.
Responsibility Emphasized
A recently released church-ordered report emphasized the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or dismissal of Church leaders or staff in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The report also pointed out that victims repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be held accountable for inaction and concealment."
Moving Forward
The representative revealed they told the Pope at the start of their meeting: "This represents as much a challenge for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
After the encounter, they voiced hope 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," Hickey commented.
They concluded that they shared with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can change how the narrative concludes - he valued that."
