Individuals who experienced sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed renewed hope after their initial meeting with the new Pope at the Holy See.
The board president, who leads the anti-abuse organization, stated that the pontiff's choice to engage with them so early in his leadership spoke volumes about his dedication to addressing the issue.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed
The group is advocating for a global strict approach that would defrock any priest who confesses to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "opposition in certain regions of the world" to this proposal, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey stated.
Legacy Challenge
The new Pope, who assumed the position in May, has taken on this longstanding problem that has haunted the Catholic Church for many years.
Earlier attempts to address the problem included an historic summit on paedophilia within the Church and changes to church laws to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For Hickey, who prefers they/them pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the measure is deeply meaningful. The Canadian advocate shared they were abused by a priest who was later transferred between various churches.
"We trust this will set the tone for his leadership, because we want to work with him," Hickey expressed. "We have the common objective, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."
Significant Encounter
Multiple representatives of the coalition, which represents victims and advocates from over thirty countries, engaged with the Pontiff in his official residence.
The discussion, initially planned for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The pontiff was characterized as "very understanding" when listening to the account of a woman victimized at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.
Hickey noted the leader was "compassionate" about their own story and appeared "modest, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was making empty promises," they stated. "I believed like he was genuine, practical, and very open and keen to work with us."
Canon Law Reforms
The organization is advocating that changes to canon law will facilitate the adoption of the strict approach worldwide.
They have consulted specialists and gathered documents that they will present to the pontiff.
"He seemed engaged in looking at it," Hickey remarked.
Accountability Emphasized
A recent Vatican-commissioned document highlighted the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or dismissal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The document also pointed out that victims repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be held accountable for inaction and concealment."
Moving Forward
The representative revealed they informed the Pope at the beginning of their meeting: "This is as much a risk for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
Following 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, uniting and building a relationship and persisting to build that bond is a move in the right direction," Hickey stated.
They concluded that they shared with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the story concludes - he appreciated that."
