People who endured 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, stated that the pontiff's choice to meet with them so early in his papacy sent a strong message about his commitment to tackling the problem.
Global Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The group is advocating for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would defrock any clergy member who confesses to or is found guilty of abusing a child. This policy has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pope recognized that there is "opposition in certain regions of the world" to this proposal, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," Hickey remarked.
Inherited Issue
The new Pope, who assumed the role in spring, has taken on this longstanding problem that has plagued the Catholic Church for many years.
Previous efforts to resolve the situation included an historic meeting on paedophilia within the Church and revisions to canon law to clearly outlaw abuse.
Personal Connection
For the representative, who prefers they/them pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the policy is deeply meaningful. The North American advocate shared they were victimized by a priest who was subsequently moved between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey stated. "We have the same goal, we want to end clergy abuse."
Historic Encounter
Multiple representatives of the coalition, which represents victims and advocates from over thirty countries, engaged with the Pontiff in his official residence.
The meeting, initially planned for a brief period, lasted to a full hour, during which the Pope "primarily heard to us," according to Hickey.
The Pope was characterized as "quite empathetic" when hearing the story of a female survivor abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in Canada.
They noted the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal story and appeared "modest, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Victims have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," they commented. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and keen to work with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The group is advocating that revisions to canon law will enable the adoption of the strict approach globally.
They have spoken with specialists and compiled documents that they plan to submit to the pontiff.
"He appeared engaged in looking at it," Hickey remarked.
Accountability Highlighted
A recently released church-ordered document emphasized the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or removal of Church leaders or staff in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The report also noted that victims consistently emphasized the "urgent need for bishops and senior officials to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."
Moving Forward
Hickey shared they informed the pontiff at the start of their discussion: "This is as much a challenge for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the meeting, Hickey expressed hope for progress.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, coming together and establishing a relationship and persisting to build that bond is a step in the right direction," they commented.
They added that they told with the pontiff: "Just because it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the story concludes - he valued that."
