People who endured abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed renewed hope following their first encounter with the new Pope at the Vatican.
The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the Pope's decision to meet with them so soon in his papacy sent a strong message about his commitment to tackling the issue.
Worldwide Strict Approach Pushed
The group is advocating for a worldwide strict approach that would defrock any priest who confesses to or is proven of abusing a child. This policy has been implemented in the US.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "opposition in some parts of the globe" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey stated.
Inherited Challenge
The new Pope, who assumed the role in spring, has taken on this persistent problem that has haunted the Catholic Church for many years.
Previous efforts to resolve the problem included an unprecedented summit on paedophilia within the institution and revisions to canon law to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For the representative, who uses they/them pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the measure is personal. The North American activist shared they were victimized by a priest who was later moved between different parishes.
"We trust this will set the tone for his leadership, because we aim to collaborate with him," they expressed. "We have the same goal, we seek to end clergy abuse."
Historic Meeting
Multiple representatives of the coalition, which represents victims and advocates from over thirty nations, engaged with the Pope in his official residence.
The meeting, initially planned for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The Pope was characterized as "very understanding" when listening to the account of a female survivor victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in Canada.
They added the leader was "compassionate" about their own experience and appeared "modest, funny, and approachable."
"Victims have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," Hickey stated. "I believed like he was sincere, practical, and very open and eager to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The group is advocating that changes to canon law will facilitate the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have spoken with experts and gathered documents that they plan to submit to Pope Leo.
"He seemed engaged in looking at it," they noted.
Accountability Emphasized
A recently released church-ordered document highlighted the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or removal of religious officials or personnel in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The report also pointed out that victims repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for church leaders and senior officials to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Path Ahead
The representative revealed they informed 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 hope for future change.
"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, coming together and establishing a relationship and persisting to build that relationship is a move in the right direction," Hickey stated.
They concluded that they told with the pontiff: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can change how the story concludes - he valued that."
