Individuals who experienced sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have voiced fresh optimism following their first encounter with the new Pope at the Vatican.
The board president, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the pontiff's decision to engage with them so soon in his papacy sent a strong message about his commitment to tackling the issue.
Global Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed
The organization is advocating for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who confesses to or is proven of abusing a child. This policy has been implemented in the US.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "resistance in some parts of the world" to this proposal, according to the representative.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is resistance," they stated.
Legacy Challenge
The current pontiff, who assumed the role in spring, has inherited this longstanding problem that has plagued the Catholic Church for decades.
Earlier attempts to address the problem included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the Church and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For Hickey, who uses they/them pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the measure is deeply meaningful. The Canadian activist revealed they were victimized by a priest who was later moved between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his leadership, because we aim to collaborate with him," they stated. "We have the same goal, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Seven representatives of the coalition, which includes victims and advocates from more than 30 countries, engaged with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The discussion, initially planned for a brief period, 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 Indigenous children in Canada.
Hickey noted the leader was "tender" about their personal experience and appeared "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," they commented. "I felt like he was sincere, realistic, and receptive and eager to work with us."
Canon Law Changes
The organization is hoping that revisions to church regulations will enable the implementation of the strict approach globally.
They have consulted specialists and gathered documents that they plan to submit to the pontiff.
"He seemed interested in looking at it," Hickey noted.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released Vatican-commissioned report highlighted the "necessity of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or removal of religious officials or staff in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The document also pointed out that survivors repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for bishops and senior officials to be made responsible for inaction and cover-up."
Path Ahead
Hickey shared they informed the pontiff at the start of their meeting: "This is as much a challenge for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."
Following the encounter, Hickey expressed optimism for progress.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, coming together and building a relationship and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a step in the right direction," they stated.
Hickey concluded that they told with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can alter how the narrative ends - he appreciated that."
