Individuals who endured sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed renewed hope after their initial meeting with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the Pope's choice to meet with them so soon in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to addressing the issue.
Global Strict Approach Advocated
The organization is pushing for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who admits to or is proven of sexually abusing a minor. This approach has already been adopted in the US.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "resistance in some parts of the globe" to this proposal, according to the representative.
"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey remarked.
Legacy Issue
The new Pope, who took the role in May, has inherited this persistent issue that has haunted the Catholic Church for many years.
Earlier attempts to address the situation included an historic summit on paedophilia 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 worldwide adoption of the measure is deeply meaningful. The Canadian advocate revealed they were abused by a priest who was later moved between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his leadership, because we aim to work with him," they stated. "Both sides share the common objective, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."
Historic Meeting
Seven members of the organization, which includes victims and supporters from more than 30 countries, met with the Pope in his Vatican office.
The meeting, initially planned for a brief period, lasted 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 female survivor victimized at a church-run institution for native youth in North America.
Hickey noted the leader was "compassionate" about their personal experience and seemed "modest, 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 stated. "I felt like he was sincere, practical, and receptive and keen to work with us."
Canon Law Changes
The group is hoping that changes to church regulations will enable the implementation of the strict approach worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and gathered documents that they will submit to the pontiff.
"He seemed interested in looking at it," they remarked.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recent Vatican-commissioned document emphasized the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or dismissal of religious officials or personnel in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The report also noted that survivors repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for bishops and senior officials to be held accountable for inaction and concealment."
Path Ahead
The representative 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 encounter, Hickey expressed hope for future change.
"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, coming together and building a relationship and persisting to strengthen that bond is a move in the right direction," Hickey commented.
Hickey added that they shared with the pontiff: "Just because it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the narrative concludes - he valued that."
