People who endured abuse by church officials have voiced fresh optimism after their initial encounter with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
The board president, who leads the anti-abuse organization, commented that the Pope's choice to meet with them so soon in his leadership spoke volumes about his commitment to tackling the issue.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The group is advocating for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would defrock any clergy member who confesses to or is found guilty of abusing a child. This policy has been implemented in the United States.
The Pontiff recognized that there is "resistance in some parts of the globe" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," they stated.
Legacy Challenge
The new Pope, who took the position in May, has inherited this longstanding problem that has haunted the Catholic Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the problem included an historic meeting on paedophilia within the Church and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For Hickey, who prefers they/them pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The Canadian advocate revealed they were abused by a priest who was subsequently moved between different parishes.
"We trust this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we aim to collaborate with him," Hickey expressed. "We have the same goal, we seek to eliminate clergy abuse."
Historic Meeting
Seven representatives of the organization, which includes survivors and supporters from over thirty countries, met with the Pontiff in his official residence.
The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "primarily heard to us," according to Hickey.
The pontiff was described as "quite empathetic" when listening to the story of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.
They added the Pope was "compassionate" about their own experience and appeared "modest, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Victims have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," Hickey stated. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Canon Law Changes
The group is hoping that revisions to canon law will facilitate the implementation of the strict approach worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and gathered documents that they will present to Pope Leo.
"He seemed interested in reviewing it," Hickey noted.
Responsibility Emphasized
A recently released church-ordered document highlighted the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or dismissal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The document also noted that victims consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and senior officials to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."
Moving Forward
Hickey revealed they informed the Pope at the beginning of their meeting: "This represents as much a challenge for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the meeting, Hickey expressed optimism for progress.
"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, coming together and building a relationship and persisting to build that bond is a step in the right direction," they stated.
They added that they told with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can alter how the narrative ends - he appreciated that."
