Individuals who experienced abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope following their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
The board president, who leads the anti-abuse organization, stated that the Pope's decision to engage with them so soon in his leadership spoke volumes about his dedication to addressing the issue.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Approach Advocated
The group is pushing for a worldwide strict approach that would defrock any priest who admits to or is proven of sexually abusing a minor. This approach has been implemented in the US.
The Pontiff recognized that there is "resistance in certain regions of the globe" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," Hickey remarked.
Inherited Challenge
The current pontiff, who assumed the position in spring, has taken on this persistent issue that has haunted the Catholic Church for decades.
Earlier attempts to resolve the situation included an unprecedented meeting on paedophilia within the Church and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For Hickey, who prefers they/them pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the measure is personal. The North American advocate shared they were abused by a priest who was subsequently moved between different parishes.
"We trust this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we want to work with him," Hickey expressed. "We have the common objective, we seek to eliminate clergy abuse."
Significant Encounter
Multiple members of the organization, which represents victims and supporters from more than 30 nations, met with the Pontiff 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 pontiff was characterized as "quite empathetic" when listening to the story of a female survivor victimized at a church-run institution for native youth in Canada.
Hickey noted the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal story and appeared "very humble, funny, and very down to earth."
"Survivors 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 very open and keen to work with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The group is advocating that changes to church regulations will facilitate the implementation of the strict approach worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and gathered materials that they will present to Pope Leo.
"He seemed interested in reviewing it," Hickey noted.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recent church-ordered document emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or dismissal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The document also noted that survivors consistently emphasized the "urgent need for church leaders and senior officials to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."
Path Ahead
The representative revealed they told the Pope at the start of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the encounter, they voiced hope for progress.
"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 relationship is a move in the right direction," they commented.
They concluded that they shared with the pontiff: "Just because it's a difficult period, I believe like we can change how the story concludes - he appreciated that."
