People who experienced sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed fresh optimism after their initial encounter with the new Pope at the Vatican.
The board president, who leads the anti-abuse organization, stated that the Pope's decision to meet with them so soon in his papacy spoke volumes about his dedication to addressing the issue.
Worldwide Strict Approach Advocated
The group is pushing for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is proven of abusing a minor. This policy has been implemented in the US.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the globe" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey remarked.
Legacy Issue
The new Pope, who took the position in May, has taken on this longstanding issue that has haunted the Catholic Church for decades.
Previous efforts to address the situation included an unprecedented meeting on paedophilia within the Church and revisions to church laws to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For the representative, who uses they/them pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the policy is personal. The Canadian activist shared they were abused by a clergy member who was later moved between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey expressed. "We have the common objective, we seek to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Significant Encounter
Seven members of the organization, which includes survivors and advocates from more than 30 countries, engaged with the Pope in his official residence.
The meeting, originally scheduled for a brief period, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The pontiff was described as "quite empathetic" when hearing the account of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in Canada.
They added the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal story and appeared "modest, humorous, and approachable."
"Survivors have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," Hickey commented. "I felt like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and keen to work with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The group is advocating that changes to canon law will facilitate the adoption of the strict approach worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and compiled materials that they plan to submit to the pontiff.
"He appeared engaged in reviewing it," they noted.
Accountability Emphasized
A recently released Vatican-commissioned report emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or removal of religious officials or staff in cases of abuse or negligence."
The report also noted that victims consistently emphasized the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."
Moving Forward
The representative shared they told the pontiff at the beginning of their discussion: "This represents as much a challenge for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the meeting, Hickey expressed optimism for future change.
"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, coming together and establishing a relationship and continuing to build that relationship is a move in the correct path," they stated.
Hickey added that they told with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a difficult period, I believe like we can alter how the story ends - he valued that."
