People who endured abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed renewed hope following their initial meeting with the new Pope at the Holy See.
The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the pontiff's decision to meet with them so soon in his papacy spoke volumes about his dedication to tackling the issue.
Worldwide Strict Approach Pushed
The organization is advocating for a global strict approach that would defrock any clergy member who admits to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a child. This policy has already been adopted in the US.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "opposition in some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," they stated.
Inherited Challenge
The current pontiff, who took the role in May, has inherited this persistent issue that has haunted the Church for decades.
Earlier attempts to address the problem included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the institution and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Personal Link
For the representative, who prefers they/them pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the measure is personal. The North American activist shared they were abused by a priest who was subsequently moved between different parishes.
"We trust this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we want to work with him," they expressed. "We have the same goal, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Multiple representatives of the organization, which represents survivors and supporters from over thirty countries, engaged with the Pontiff in his official residence.
The discussion, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was described as "quite empathetic" when listening to the account of a female survivor victimized at a church-run institution for native youth in North America.
Hickey added the Pope was "compassionate" about their own experience and seemed "modest, funny, and very down to earth."
"Victims have consistently sought a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," they commented. "I believed like he was sincere, realistic, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The group is hoping that changes to church regulations will enable the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and compiled documents that they plan to submit to Pope Leo.
"He seemed interested in looking at it," they remarked.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recent Vatican-commissioned report highlighted the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the resignation and/or removal of religious officials or staff in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The document also pointed out that survivors repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for bishops and senior officials to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."
Moving Forward
The representative shared they told the Pope at the beginning of their meeting: "This represents as much a risk for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
After the encounter, they voiced optimism for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, uniting and establishing a connection and persisting to strengthen that bond is a step in the right direction," they commented.
Hickey concluded that they told with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a difficult period, I believe like we can alter how the narrative concludes - he appreciated that."
