People who endured abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope after their initial encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
The board president, who leads the anti-abuse organization, commented that the pontiff's choice to meet with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to tackling the problem.
Global Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The organization is advocating for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This policy has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the world" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," they remarked.
Inherited Issue
The new Pope, who assumed the role in May, has taken on this persistent issue that has haunted the Catholic Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the problem included an historic summit on paedophilia within the Church and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For the representative, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the policy is personal. The Canadian advocate shared they were victimized by a priest who was later transferred between various churches.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his leadership, because we want to collaborate with him," they expressed. "Both sides share the common objective, we want to end abuse by religious officials."
Significant Encounter
Multiple representatives of the organization, which includes survivors and supporters from over thirty countries, engaged with the Pontiff in his official residence.
The discussion, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, lasted to a full hour, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to Hickey.
The Pope was characterized as "quite empathetic" when hearing the account of a woman abused at a church-run institution for Indigenous children in Canada.
They noted the leader was "tender" about their own experience and appeared "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," Hickey stated. "I felt like he was sincere, realistic, and very open and keen to work with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The organization is advocating that revisions to canon law will facilitate the implementation of the strict approach worldwide.
They have consulted experts and gathered materials that they plan to submit to Pope Leo.
"He appeared engaged in looking at it," Hickey noted.
Accountability Highlighted
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document emphasized the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or dismissal of religious officials or personnel in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The report also pointed out that survivors consistently emphasized the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be held accountable for inaction and cover-up."
Path Ahead
The representative shared they informed the Pope 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, they expressed hope for future change.
"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, coming together and establishing a connection and continuing to build that bond is a move in the correct path," Hickey commented.
They concluded that they shared with the pontiff: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can change how the story ends - he appreciated that."
