People who experienced abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed fresh optimism following their initial meeting with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
The board president, heading the anti-abuse organization, commented that the Pope's choice to engage with them so soon in his papacy spoke volumes about his commitment to addressing the issue.
Global Strict Policy Advocated
The group is pushing for a global strict approach that would defrock any priest who admits to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a child. This approach has been implemented in the US.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the world" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," Hickey stated.
Inherited Challenge
The current pontiff, who assumed the role in spring, has inherited this persistent issue that has plagued the Catholic Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the situation included an unprecedented summit on child abuse within the institution and revisions to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For Hickey, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the policy is personal. The North American activist revealed they were victimized by a priest who was subsequently moved between various churches.
"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."
Historic Encounter
Multiple representatives of the coalition, which includes survivors and advocates from more than 30 nations, met with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The discussion, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The Pope was characterized as "quite empathetic" when hearing the story of a woman victimized at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in Canada.
They noted the leader was "tender" about their own experience and appeared "modest, funny, and approachable."
"Survivors have consistently sought a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was making empty promises," they stated. "I believed like he was genuine, practical, and receptive and keen to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The organization is advocating that changes to canon law will enable the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have consulted experts and gathered materials that they plan to submit to the pontiff.
"He seemed engaged in reviewing it," Hickey noted.
Responsibility Emphasized
A recently released church-ordered report highlighted the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the resignation and/or dismissal of Church leaders or staff in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The document also pointed out that survivors consistently emphasized the "urgent need for bishops and major superiors to be made responsible for inaction and concealment."
Path Ahead
Hickey shared they told the Pope at the start of their discussion: "This represents as much a challenge for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the encounter, they voiced hope for future change.
"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, uniting and establishing a connection and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a step in the right direction," they stated.
They added that they told with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a difficult period, I feel like we can alter how the story concludes - he valued that."