People who experienced abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope following their initial encounter with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the Pope's decision to engage with them so soon in his papacy sent a strong message about his dedication to addressing the issue.
Global Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed
The group is advocating for a global strict approach that would defrock any priest who admits to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a minor. This policy has already been adopted in the US.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the globe" to this proposal, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey remarked.
Inherited Challenge
The new Pope, who assumed the position in spring, has taken on this longstanding issue that has plagued the Catholic Church for many years.
Previous efforts to resolve the situation included an historic meeting on child abuse within the Church and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The North American activist shared they were victimized by a priest who was subsequently moved between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we want to work with him," they expressed. "Both sides share the common objective, we seek to end abuse by religious officials."
Historic Encounter
Multiple representatives 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 full hour, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The Pope was described as "quite empathetic" when hearing the account of a female survivor abused at a church-run institution for Indigenous children in Canada.
Hickey noted the leader was "tender" about their own story and appeared "very humble, humorous, and approachable."
"Victims have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," they commented. "I felt like he was sincere, realistic, and receptive and keen to work with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The organization is hoping that changes to church regulations will facilitate the implementation of the strict approach globally.
They have spoken with experts and gathered materials that they will present to the pontiff.
"He appeared engaged in looking at it," Hickey remarked.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released Vatican-commissioned report emphasized the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or dismissal of Church leaders or staff in cases of abuse or negligence."
The document also noted that victims repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for bishops and senior officials to be made responsible for inaction and concealment."
Moving Forward
Hickey revealed they told the pontiff at the start of their discussion: "This represents as much a challenge for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
Following the meeting, they voiced optimism for progress.
"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, uniting and establishing a relationship and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a move in the right direction," Hickey commented.
They concluded that they shared with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a difficult period, I believe like we can alter how the story concludes - he appreciated that."
