Individuals who experienced sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed renewed hope after their initial meeting with the new Pope at the Vatican.
The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the Pope's decision to engage with them so soon in his leadership spoke volumes about his commitment to addressing the issue.
Global Strict Approach Advocated
The group is advocating for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who admits to or is proven of sexually abusing a minor. This policy has already been adopted in the US.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "resistance in some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey remarked.
Legacy Issue
The new Pope, who assumed the role in May, has taken on this longstanding problem that has haunted the Catholic Church for many years.
Previous efforts to resolve the problem included an unprecedented meeting on paedophilia within the Church and changes to canon law to clearly outlaw abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For Hickey, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the measure is deeply meaningful. The North American activist shared they were abused by a priest who was later transferred between various churches.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to work with him," they expressed. "We have the same goal, we seek to end clergy abuse."
Significant Meeting
Seven representatives of the organization, which represents victims and supporters from more than 30 nations, met with the Pontiff in his official residence.
The discussion, initially planned for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was described as "quite empathetic" when listening to the story of a female survivor victimized at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.
They added the leader was "tender" about their own experience and appeared "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Victims have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," Hickey stated. "I felt like he was genuine, realistic, and receptive and eager to collaborate with us."
Canon Law Changes
The group is advocating that changes to canon law will enable the adoption of the strict approach worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and gathered materials that they will submit to Pope Leo.
"He seemed interested in looking at it," they remarked.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released Vatican-commissioned report emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or removal of religious officials or personnel in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The report also noted that victims consistently emphasized the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be held accountable for inaction and cover-up."
Path Ahead
The representative revealed they informed the pontiff at the start of their meeting: "This represents as much a challenge for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the encounter, Hickey expressed hope 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 establishing a relationship and continuing to build that relationship is a move in the right direction," they commented.
They concluded that they shared with the pontiff: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can alter how the story concludes - he valued that."
