Individuals who experienced sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed fresh optimism after their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
The board president, who leads the anti-abuse organization, commented that the Pope's choice to meet with them so early in his papacy spoke volumes about his dedication to addressing the issue.
Global Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The group is advocating for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any priest who confesses to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This approach has been implemented in the US.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "opposition in certain regions of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is pushback," Hickey stated.
Legacy Challenge
The current pontiff, who took the role in May, has taken on this longstanding issue that has plagued the Church for many years.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an historic summit on child abuse within the institution and changes to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For Hickey, who prefers they/them pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the policy is personal. The Canadian activist shared they were abused by a priest who was subsequently transferred between various churches.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his leadership, because we want to work with him," Hickey expressed. "Both sides share the common objective, we want to end clergy abuse."
Historic Encounter
Seven representatives of the coalition, which includes victims and advocates from more than 30 nations, met with the Pope in his official residence.
The meeting, initially planned for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The pontiff was characterized as "very understanding" when listening to the account of a female survivor victimized at a church-run institution for Indigenous children in North America.
Hickey noted the leader was "tender" about their own story and seemed "modest, humorous, and approachable."
"Victims have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," they stated. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and eager to work with us."
Canon Law Changes
The group is hoping that revisions to church regulations will facilitate the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have consulted specialists and compiled documents that they plan to present to the pontiff.
"He appeared interested in reviewing it," they noted.
Responsibility Emphasized
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document emphasized the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the resignation and/or removal of Church leaders or staff in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The report also noted that survivors consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and major superiors to be held accountable for negligence and concealment."
Moving Forward
The representative revealed they told the Pope at the beginning of their discussion: "This is as much a risk for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the encounter, they expressed optimism for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, coming together and establishing a relationship and persisting to build that relationship is a move in the correct path," Hickey stated.
They concluded that they shared with the pontiff: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can change how the narrative ends - he valued that."
