Individuals who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism following their initial meeting with the new Pope at the Vatican.
The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the Pope's decision to meet with them so soon in his papacy sent a strong message about his dedication to tackling the problem.
Global Strict Approach Advocated
The group is pushing for a global strict approach that would defrock any priest who confesses to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a minor. This approach has already been adopted in the US.
The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "resistance in some parts of the world" to this proposal, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is resistance," Hickey stated.
Legacy Challenge
The current pontiff, who took the role in May, has inherited this longstanding issue that has plagued the Church for decades.
Previous efforts to address the situation included an historic meeting on paedophilia within the Church and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Personal Link
For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the policy is deeply meaningful. The North American activist shared they were victimized by a priest who was later moved between various churches.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we want to collaborate with him," they expressed. "Both sides share the common objective, we seek to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Multiple representatives of the coalition, which represents victims and advocates from more than 30 nations, met with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The meeting, initially planned for a brief period, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.
The pontiff was described as "very understanding" when hearing the account of a female survivor victimized at a church-run institution for Indigenous children in Canada.
Hickey added the leader was "compassionate" about their personal story and appeared "modest, humorous, and approachable."
"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 receptive and keen to work with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The organization is advocating that changes to canon law will enable the adoption of the strict approach worldwide.
They have consulted specialists and compiled materials that they plan to submit to Pope Leo.
"He seemed interested in reviewing it," they remarked.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released Vatican-commissioned report emphasized the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or removal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of abuse or negligence."
The document also noted that survivors consistently emphasized the "urgent need for bishops and senior officials to be made responsible for inaction and concealment."
Moving Forward
Hickey revealed they informed the Pope at the start of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the encounter, they voiced optimism for progress.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, uniting and establishing a relationship and persisting to strengthen that bond is a move in the correct path," Hickey commented.
They concluded that they shared with the pontiff: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can alter how the story concludes - he valued that."
