People who experienced sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed renewed hope after their first encounter with the new Pope at the Vatican.
The board president, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the pontiff's decision to engage with them so soon in his leadership spoke volumes about his commitment to addressing the issue.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Advocated
The group is pushing for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who admits to or is proven of 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 globe" to this proposal, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey stated.
Legacy Issue
The new Pope, who assumed the position in May, has inherited this persistent issue that has plagued the Church for decades.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an unprecedented summit on child abuse within the institution and revisions to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Personal Connection
For Hickey, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the policy is personal. The Canadian activist shared they were victimized by a clergy member who was later transferred between various churches.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we want to work with him," Hickey stated. "We have the same goal, we want to end abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Multiple members of the organization, which includes survivors and supporters from more than 30 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 "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was described as "very understanding" when listening to the story of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.
Hickey noted the Pope was "tender" about their personal experience and appeared "very humble, funny, 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," Hickey commented. "I felt like he was sincere, realistic, and very open and eager to work with us."
Canon Law Reforms
The organization is advocating that changes to church regulations will enable the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have spoken with specialists and compiled materials that they plan to present to the pontiff.
"He appeared interested in looking at it," they noted.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or removal of religious officials or personnel in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The report also pointed out that survivors consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for bishops and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."
Path Ahead
The representative shared they told the pontiff at the beginning of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."
Following the encounter, Hickey expressed optimism for progress.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, uniting and establishing a connection and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a step in the right direction," they stated.
They added that they shared with the pontiff: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the narrative concludes - he valued that."
