Individuals who experienced abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope after their first encounter with the new Pope at the Vatican.
The board president, heading the anti-abuse organization, commented that the pontiff's decision to engage with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to addressing the issue.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed
The organization is pushing for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would defrock any priest who confesses to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This policy has been implemented in the United States.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "opposition in some parts of the globe" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," Hickey remarked.
Inherited Challenge
The current pontiff, who assumed the position in spring, has inherited this persistent problem that has haunted the Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the situation included an unprecedented summit on paedophilia within the Church and revisions to canon law to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For Hickey, who uses they/them pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the measure is deeply meaningful. The North American activist shared they were victimized by a clergy member who was later transferred between various churches.
"We trust this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we want to collaborate with him," they expressed. "We have the common objective, we want to end clergy abuse."
Historic Encounter
Multiple members of the organization, which includes survivors and supporters from over thirty nations, met with the Pontiff in his official residence.
The discussion, initially planned for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The pontiff was described as "quite empathetic" when hearing the account of a female survivor abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.
Hickey noted the Pope was "tender" about their own story and appeared "very humble, funny, and approachable."
"Survivors have consistently sought a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," they stated. "I felt like he was sincere, realistic, and receptive and keen to work with us."
Canon Law Changes
The group is advocating that revisions to canon law will enable the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have spoken with specialists and gathered documents that they plan to submit to the pontiff.
"He seemed interested in looking at it," they noted.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recent church-ordered document highlighted the "importance of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or removal of Church leaders or staff in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The document also noted that survivors consistently emphasized the "urgent need for bishops and major superiors to be held accountable for inaction and concealment."
Moving Forward
Hickey revealed they told the Pope at the start of their meeting: "This is as much a challenge for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the meeting, Hickey expressed hope for future change.
"We understand 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.
Hickey concluded that they told with the pontiff: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the narrative concludes - he valued that."
