Individuals who endured sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have voiced fresh optimism after their first meeting with the new Pope at the Holy See.
The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the Pope's decision to meet with them so early in his leadership spoke volumes about his commitment to addressing the problem.
Worldwide Strict Policy Pushed
The organization is pushing for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any clergy member who confesses to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a minor. This policy has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the world" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," they remarked.
Inherited Issue
The new Pope, who took the role in spring, has inherited this persistent problem that has haunted the Catholic Church for decades.
Earlier attempts to resolve the situation included an unprecedented summit on child abuse within the institution and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For Hickey, who uses they/them pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the policy is deeply meaningful. The North American advocate shared they were abused by a clergy member who was later transferred between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his leadership, because we want to work with him," Hickey stated. "We have the same goal, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."
Significant Meeting
Seven representatives of the organization, which includes survivors and supporters from over thirty countries, engaged with the Pope in his Vatican office.
The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to Hickey.
The Pope was described as "quite empathetic" when listening to the account of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in Canada.
Hickey noted the Pope was "compassionate" about their own story and seemed "very humble, funny, and very down to earth."
"Victims have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," Hickey commented. "I felt like he was genuine, practical, and receptive and keen to collaborate with us."
Canon Law Changes
The organization is hoping that revisions to canon law will facilitate the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and gathered documents that they will submit to Pope Leo.
"He appeared interested in looking at it," they noted.
Responsibility Emphasized
A recently released church-ordered document emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or removal of religious officials or staff in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The document also pointed out that survivors consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and senior officials to be held accountable for inaction and concealment."
Path Ahead
The representative shared 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, Hickey expressed optimism for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, uniting and building a relationship and persisting to strengthen that bond is a move in the correct path," they stated.
They added that they shared with the pontiff: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can alter how the story concludes - he appreciated that."
