People who experienced sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed fresh optimism after their initial encounter with the new Pope at the Holy See.
The board president, heading the anti-abuse organization, commented that the Pope's choice to meet with them so early in his papacy spoke volumes about his commitment to tackling the problem.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Advocated
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 been implemented in the United States.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "opposition in certain regions of the world" to this proposal, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey stated.
Inherited Issue
The new Pope, who assumed the position in May, has taken on this longstanding problem that has haunted the Church for many years.
Earlier attempts to address the situation included an historic meeting on child abuse within the Church and revisions to church laws to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For the representative, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The Canadian advocate shared they were abused by a clergy member who was later moved between various churches.
"We trust this will set the tone for his leadership, because we aim to collaborate with him," they stated. "We have the same goal, we want to end clergy abuse."
Historic Meeting
Seven representatives of the organization, which represents victims and supporters from more than 30 countries, met with the Pontiff in his official residence.
The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was characterized as "quite empathetic" when hearing the story of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.
They added the leader was "compassionate" about their own experience and appeared "very humble, humorous, and approachable."
"Survivors have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," they commented. "I felt like he was sincere, practical, and very open and eager to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The group is hoping that revisions to church regulations will enable the implementation of the strict approach worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and compiled documents that they plan to present to Pope Leo.
"He seemed interested in reviewing it," Hickey remarked.
Responsibility Emphasized
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document highlighted the "importance of a efficient process for the resignation and/or removal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of abuse or negligence."
The document also noted that survivors repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Moving Forward
The representative shared they told the Pope at the start of their discussion: "This represents as much a challenge for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."
After the encounter, Hickey voiced hope for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, uniting and establishing a connection and persisting to build that relationship is a move in the correct path," they commented.
Hickey concluded that they told with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can alter how the story concludes - he appreciated that."
