People who experienced abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope following 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 decision to meet with them so soon in his papacy spoke volumes about his commitment to tackling the problem.
Global Strict Approach Pushed
The group is advocating for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who confesses to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This policy has already been adopted in the US.
The Pope recognized that there is "resistance in certain regions of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is resistance," they remarked.
Legacy Challenge
The new Pope, who assumed the role in May, has taken on this persistent problem that has haunted the Catholic Church for many years.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an unprecedented summit on child abuse within the Church and changes to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For Hickey, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the measure is personal. The North American advocate revealed they were victimized by a priest who was later transferred between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we aim to work with him," Hickey expressed. "Both sides share the same goal, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Multiple members of the organization, which represents victims and advocates from more than 30 nations, met with the Pope 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 Hickey.
The Pope was characterized as "very understanding" when listening to the story of a female survivor victimized at a church-run institution for native youth in Canada.
Hickey added the leader was "tender" about their personal story and seemed "modest, funny, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have consistently sought a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," they stated. "I felt like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and keen to work with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The organization is advocating that changes to canon law will enable the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have spoken with specialists and compiled documents that they will present to the pontiff.
"He seemed interested in reviewing it," Hickey remarked.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released church-ordered document emphasized the "necessity of a streamlined protocol 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 repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for bishops and major superiors to be held accountable for inaction and concealment."
Moving Forward
The representative revealed they told the pontiff at the beginning of their discussion: "This represents as much a challenge for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
After the meeting, they voiced optimism for future change.
"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, uniting and establishing a relationship and continuing to build that relationship is a step in the correct path," they commented.
They concluded that they shared with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can alter how the narrative ends - he valued that."
