People who experienced sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have voiced renewed hope following their initial encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
The board president, who leads the anti-abuse organization, stated that the Pope's decision to meet with them so soon in his papacy sent a strong message about his dedication to addressing the problem.
Worldwide Strict Policy Advocated
The organization is pushing for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who confesses to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a minor. This policy has already been adopted in the US.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is pushback," Hickey stated.
Inherited Issue
The current pontiff, who took the role in spring, has inherited this longstanding issue that has haunted the Catholic Church for many years.
Earlier attempts to address the problem included an historic summit on child abuse within the institution and revisions to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The Canadian activist revealed they were abused by a priest who was later moved between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we want to work with him," they expressed. "Both sides share the same goal, we want to end abuse by religious officials."
Historic Meeting
Multiple representatives of the organization, which represents victims and supporters from more than 30 countries, met with the Pope in his official residence.
The meeting, initially planned for a brief period, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.
The Pope was described as "very understanding" when listening to the account of a female survivor abused at a church-run institution for Indigenous children in North America.
Hickey added the leader was "tender" about their personal story and appeared "very humble, humorous, and approachable."
"Victims have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," they stated. "I believed like he was sincere, practical, and receptive and keen to collaborate with us."
Canon Law Changes
The group is advocating that revisions to canon law will enable the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and compiled documents that they will present to the pontiff.
"He seemed interested in looking at it," Hickey noted.
Accountability Highlighted
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document highlighted the "importance 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 noted that survivors repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for bishops and senior officials to be held accountable for negligence and concealment."
Moving Forward
The representative shared they told the pontiff at the start of their discussion: "This is as much a challenge for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."
After the encounter, Hickey expressed optimism for progress.
"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, uniting and building a relationship and persisting to build that relationship is a step in the correct path," Hickey stated.
They added that they told with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can change how the story ends - he valued that."
