Individuals who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope following their first meeting with the new Pope at the Vatican.
The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the Pope's choice to engage with them so early in his papacy spoke volumes about his dedication to addressing the issue.
Global Zero-Tolerance Approach Advocated
The organization is advocating for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a child. This policy has been implemented in the United States.
The Pope recognized that there is "resistance in certain regions of the globe" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is resistance," they remarked.
Legacy Issue
The current pontiff, who assumed the role in spring, has taken on this persistent problem that has plagued the Church for many years.
Previous efforts to address the situation included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the institution and changes to church laws to clearly outlaw abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For the representative, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the policy is deeply meaningful. The North American advocate revealed they were abused by a priest who was subsequently moved between various churches.
"We trust this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we want to work with him," they stated. "We have the common objective, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Historic Encounter
Multiple representatives of the coalition, which includes survivors and supporters from more than 30 nations, met with the Pontiff in his official residence.
The discussion, initially planned for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The pontiff was characterized as "quite empathetic" when hearing the account of a female survivor abused at a church-run institution for Indigenous children in North America.
Hickey added the leader was "compassionate" about their personal story and appeared "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," Hickey stated. "I felt like he was sincere, realistic, and receptive and eager to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The organization is hoping that revisions to church regulations will facilitate the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have spoken with experts and gathered documents that they plan to submit to the pontiff.
"He appeared interested in looking at it," they remarked.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released church-ordered document emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or removal of religious officials or personnel in cases of abuse or negligence."
The document also noted that survivors repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for church leaders and senior officials to be held accountable for inaction and cover-up."
Moving Forward
The representative revealed they informed the pontiff at the start of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
After the encounter, Hickey voiced hope for progress.
"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, coming together and building a relationship and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a move in the right direction," they stated.
Hickey concluded that they shared with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can alter how the story concludes - he valued that."
