People who experienced abuse by church officials have voiced fresh optimism following their first encounter with the new Pope at the Vatican.
The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the Pope's choice to engage with them so soon in his papacy spoke volumes about his dedication to addressing the issue.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Approach Advocated
The group is pushing for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the US.
The Pope recognized that there is "resistance in certain regions of the globe" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is resistance," Hickey remarked.
Inherited Issue
The current pontiff, who took the role in May, has taken on this longstanding issue that has plagued the Catholic Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the situation included an historic meeting on paedophilia within the institution and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Personal Connection
For Hickey, who prefers they/them pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the measure is personal. The Canadian advocate revealed they were victimized by a priest who was later moved between various churches.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to collaborate with him," they expressed. "Both sides share the common objective, we seek to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Historic Meeting
Multiple representatives of the organization, which represents victims and advocates from over thirty countries, engaged with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The meeting, initially planned for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.
The pontiff was described as "quite empathetic" when listening to the story of a female survivor abused at a church-run institution for native youth in Canada.
Hickey added the leader was "compassionate" about their own experience and appeared "very humble, funny, and approachable."
"Survivors have consistently sought a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was making empty promises," they commented. "I felt like he was sincere, practical, and receptive and keen to collaborate with us."
Canon Law Reforms
The group is advocating that changes to canon law will enable the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and gathered documents that they will present to the pontiff.
"He seemed engaged in reviewing it," they noted.
Accountability Highlighted
A recently released Vatican-commissioned report emphasized the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the resignation and/or dismissal of Church leaders or staff in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The document also pointed out that survivors consistently emphasized the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for inaction and concealment."
Path Ahead
Hickey revealed they told the Pope at the start of their meeting: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the encounter, they voiced hope for progress.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, uniting and establishing a relationship and persisting to build that bond is a move in the right direction," Hickey commented.
Hickey concluded that they told with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can change how the story ends - he appreciated that."
