Individuals who endured sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed renewed hope after their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
The board president, heading the anti-abuse organization, stated that the pontiff's choice to meet with them so early in his papacy spoke volumes about his dedication to tackling the problem.
Global Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed
The group is advocating for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would defrock any priest who admits to or is proven of abusing a minor. This approach has been implemented in the US.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the world" to this proposal, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," they remarked.
Inherited Issue
The new Pope, who assumed the position in May, has inherited this persistent issue that has haunted the Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the problem included an historic meeting on paedophilia within the Church and changes to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For the representative, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the policy is personal. The North American advocate shared they were abused by a priest who was later transferred between various churches.
"We trust this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to work with him," they expressed. "We have the common objective, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Seven members of the organization, which includes survivors and advocates from more than 30 countries, engaged with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The meeting, initially planned for a brief period, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "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 Indigenous children in North America.
Hickey noted the leader was "tender" about their own experience and appeared "modest, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," Hickey stated. "I felt like he was genuine, realistic, and receptive and eager to work with us."
Canon Law Changes
The organization is advocating that changes to canon law will enable the adoption of the strict approach globally.
They have spoken with specialists and gathered documents that they plan to present to the pontiff.
"He appeared engaged in looking at it," they noted.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document highlighted the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the resignation and/or removal of religious officials or staff in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The document also noted that survivors repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for bishops and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Moving Forward
The representative shared they told the Pope at the beginning of their discussion: "This represents 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 realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, uniting and establishing a connection and persisting to build that bond is a step in the right direction," they commented.
Hickey added that they told with the pontiff: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can alter how the story concludes - he valued that."
