People who endured sexual abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope after their first meeting with the new Pope at the Vatican.
The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the Pope's decision to engage with them so soon in his papacy sent a strong message about his commitment to addressing the issue.
Worldwide Strict Policy Pushed
The group is advocating for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who admits to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pontiff recognized that there is "resistance in certain regions of the globe" to this initiative, 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 taken on this longstanding problem that has haunted the Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the problem included an historic summit on child abuse within the institution and changes to canon law to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Deeply Felt Connection
For the representative, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the measure is deeply meaningful. The Canadian activist revealed they were victimized by a clergy member who was later moved between various churches.
"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey expressed. "We have the common objective, we seek to eliminate clergy abuse."
Historic Encounter
Multiple representatives of the organization, which represents victims and supporters from more than 30 countries, met with the Pontiff in his official residence.
The meeting, originally scheduled for a brief period, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "primarily heard to us," according to Hickey.
The pontiff was described as "quite empathetic" when listening to the story of a female survivor abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.
Hickey added the leader was "tender" about their personal story 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," they commented. "I felt like he was sincere, practical, and receptive and eager to work with us."
Canon Law Changes
The group is hoping that changes to church regulations will facilitate the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have spoken with specialists and gathered materials that they plan to present to the pontiff.
"He appeared interested in reviewing it," they remarked.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document emphasized the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or removal of religious officials or personnel in cases of abuse or negligence."
The document also pointed out that survivors repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."
Moving Forward
Hickey revealed they told the Pope at the beginning of their meeting: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."
After the meeting, Hickey voiced optimism for progress.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, uniting and building a connection and continuing to strengthen that relationship is a move in the right direction," they stated.
They concluded that they told with the pontiff: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can change how the narrative concludes - he appreciated that."
