People who experienced abuse by Catholic clergy have voiced renewed hope after their initial meeting with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
The board president, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the pontiff's decision to engage with them so soon in his leadership spoke volumes about his commitment to addressing the issue.
Worldwide Strict Approach Pushed
The group is pushing for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would defrock any clergy member who admits to or is found guilty of abusing a child. This policy has already been adopted in the US.
The Pope recognized that there is "resistance in some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is pushback," they stated.
Inherited Issue
The new Pope, who took the position in spring, has taken on this longstanding problem that has haunted the Catholic Church for decades.
Previous efforts to address the situation included an historic meeting on child abuse within the Church and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For Hickey, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the measure is deeply meaningful. The North American advocate revealed they were victimized by a priest who was later transferred between different parishes.
"We trust this will set the tone for his leadership, because we aim to collaborate with him," they expressed. "We have the common objective, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."
Historic Encounter
Multiple representatives of the coalition, which includes victims and supporters from over thirty countries, engaged with the Pope in his Vatican office.
The discussion, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a full hour, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The Pope was characterized as "quite empathetic" when listening to the story of a female survivor abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.
Hickey noted the leader was "tender" about their personal story and seemed "modest, funny, and approachable."
"Victims have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," they commented. "I believed like he was genuine, practical, and very open and keen to work with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The group is advocating that revisions to church regulations will enable the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have consulted specialists and compiled documents that they will present to the pontiff.
"He seemed engaged in reviewing it," Hickey noted.
Responsibility Emphasized
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document emphasized the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the resignation and/or removal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The document also pointed out that survivors repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for church leaders and senior officials to be held accountable for negligence and cover-up."
Path Ahead
The representative revealed they told the pontiff at the beginning of their meeting: "This represents 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, uniting and building a relationship and continuing to strengthen that relationship is a move in the correct path," Hickey commented.
They added that they shared with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a difficult period, I feel like we can alter how the story concludes - he valued that."
