People who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have voiced fresh optimism after their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the pontiff's decision to meet with them so soon in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to addressing the issue.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed
The group is advocating for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who confesses to or is proven of sexually abusing a minor. This approach has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "resistance in some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is resistance," they stated.
Legacy Challenge
The new Pope, who assumed the role in spring, has taken on this longstanding issue that has haunted the Catholic Church for decades.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an unprecedented summit on paedophilia within the Church and changes to canon law to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Personal Connection
For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the measure is deeply meaningful. The Canadian advocate shared they were victimized by a priest who was subsequently transferred between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we aim to collaborate with him," Hickey expressed. "We have the same goal, we seek to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Multiple members of the coalition, which represents victims and supporters from over thirty countries, engaged with the Pope in his official residence.
The meeting, initially planned for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was described as "very understanding" when listening to the account of a woman abused at a church-run institution for native youth in Canada.
They noted the Pope was "tender" about their personal story and seemed "very humble, humorous, and approachable."
"Victims have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," Hickey commented. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and receptive and eager to work with us."
Canon Law Changes
The organization is hoping that changes to church regulations will facilitate the adoption of the strict approach globally.
They have consulted experts and gathered documents that they plan to submit to the pontiff.
"He seemed engaged in reviewing it," they noted.
Responsibility Emphasized
A recently released church-ordered report highlighted the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or removal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The document also noted that victims consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Path Ahead
Hickey shared they told the Pope at the start of their meeting: "This represents as much a challenge for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."
After the encounter, they expressed optimism for progress.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, coming together and building a connection and continuing to build that relationship is a move in the right direction," Hickey stated.
Hickey concluded that they told with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a difficult period, I believe like we can alter how the story ends - he valued that."
