Individuals who endured abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed renewed hope following their initial encounter with the new Pope at the Vatican.
The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the Pope's decision to engage with them so early in his papacy spoke volumes about his commitment to tackling the issue.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed
The group is advocating for a global zero-tolerance policy that would defrock any priest who admits to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This policy has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "resistance in some parts of the globe" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," Hickey stated.
Inherited Issue
The current pontiff, who took the role in spring, has taken on this persistent problem that has plagued the Catholic Church for many years.
Earlier attempts to address the problem included an historic meeting on paedophilia within the Church and changes to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For the representative, who prefers they/them pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The Canadian activist shared they were abused by a clergy member who was subsequently transferred between different parishes.
"We trust this will set the tone for his papacy, because we aim to collaborate with him," Hickey expressed. "Both sides share the same goal, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."
Significant Meeting
Multiple representatives of the coalition, which represents victims and advocates 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 "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The Pope was described as "quite empathetic" when listening to the story of a female survivor abused at a church-run institution for native youth in North America.
They noted the leader was "compassionate" about their own experience and appeared "modest, funny, and very down to earth."
"Victims have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," Hickey commented. "I felt like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The organization is hoping that changes to church regulations will enable the adoption of the strict approach worldwide.
They have consulted specialists and compiled documents that they will present to the pontiff.
"He seemed interested in looking at it," they noted.
Accountability Emphasized
A recent Vatican-commissioned document highlighted the "necessity of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or removal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The report also pointed out that victims repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for church leaders and senior officials to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Moving Forward
The representative shared they told the pontiff at the beginning of their meeting: "This is as much a risk for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the meeting, they expressed hope for progress.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, uniting and building a connection and persisting to build that relationship is a move in the correct path," they commented.
Hickey concluded that they shared with the pontiff: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can change how the story concludes - he valued that."