People who experienced abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism after their first meeting with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
The board president, heading the anti-abuse organization, commented that the Pope's decision to engage with them so early in his papacy spoke volumes about his commitment to addressing the issue.
Worldwide Strict Approach Pushed
The group is pushing for a global strict approach that would defrock any priest who confesses to or is found guilty of abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "opposition in certain regions of the world" to this proposal, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is pushback," Hickey stated.
Inherited Challenge
The new Pope, who assumed the role in May, has taken on this persistent issue that has plagued the Catholic Church for decades.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an historic summit on paedophilia within the Church and changes to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For the representative, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the measure is personal. The Canadian advocate shared they were victimized by a clergy member who was subsequently moved between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we aim to collaborate with him," Hickey stated. "We have the common objective, we want to end abuse by religious officials."
Significant Encounter
Multiple members of the coalition, which includes victims and supporters from over thirty countries, met with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The discussion, originally scheduled for a brief period, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The pontiff was characterized as "quite empathetic" when listening to the story of a female survivor victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.
They noted the Pope was "tender" about their personal experience and appeared "modest, funny, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," they stated. "I felt like he was sincere, realistic, and receptive and eager to work with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The group is hoping that changes to church regulations will enable the implementation of the strict approach worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and gathered documents that they will present to the pontiff.
"He seemed engaged in reviewing it," they noted.
Accountability Highlighted
A recently released church-ordered document emphasized the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the resignation and/or removal of Church leaders or staff in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The report also pointed out that survivors repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for bishops and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Path Ahead
The representative shared they told the Pope at the start of their meeting: "This represents as much a risk for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
Following the encounter, Hickey expressed hope for progress.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, uniting and building a connection and continuing to build that bond is a step in the right direction," Hickey stated.
Hickey concluded that they shared with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can alter how the story concludes - he valued that."
