Individuals who experienced abuse by church officials have voiced fresh optimism following their initial encounter with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the pontiff's decision to meet with them so soon in his papacy spoke volumes about his commitment to tackling the issue.
Worldwide Strict Approach Advocated
The organization is pushing for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who admits to or is proven of abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted 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 Challenge
The current pontiff, who assumed the position in spring, has taken on this persistent problem that has plagued the Church for many years.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an unprecedented summit on paedophilia within the institution and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the measure is deeply meaningful. The Canadian activist shared they were abused by a clergy member who was subsequently moved between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to collaborate with him," they stated. "Both sides share the common objective, we seek to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Multiple members of the organization, which includes survivors and supporters from more than 30 nations, engaged with the Pope in his Vatican office.
The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was characterized as "quite empathetic" when hearing the story of a female survivor victimized at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.
They noted the Pope was "tender" about their own story and seemed "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," Hickey commented. "I felt like he was genuine, practical, and receptive and keen to work with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The group is hoping that changes to church regulations will facilitate the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and gathered documents that they plan to present to Pope Leo.
"He seemed engaged in looking at it," they remarked.
Accountability Highlighted
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or dismissal of religious officials or personnel in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The document also noted that survivors repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for church leaders and senior officials to be made responsible for inaction and cover-up."
Moving Forward
Hickey revealed they informed the pontiff at the beginning of their discussion: "This is as much a risk for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."
Following the encounter, Hickey expressed hope 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 bond is a move in the right direction," Hickey commented.
They added that they shared with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a difficult period, I believe like we can alter how the narrative concludes - he valued that."
