People who endured abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism after their first encounter with the new Pope at the Holy See.
The board president, heading the anti-abuse organization, stated that the Pope's decision to meet with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to tackling the issue.
Global Strict Policy Advocated
The group is advocating for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who confesses to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a child. This policy has been implemented in the United States.
The Pope acknowledged that there is "opposition in certain regions of the world" to this initiative, according to the representative.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," Hickey stated.
Legacy Challenge
The new Pope, who assumed the position in May, has taken on this longstanding problem that has plagued the Catholic Church for many years.
Previous efforts to address the problem included an historic summit on paedophilia within the institution and changes to church laws to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For Hickey, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the measure is deeply meaningful. The Canadian activist revealed they were abused by a priest who was later moved between different parishes.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his leadership, because we aim to collaborate with him," they stated. "Both sides share the common objective, we want to end abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Seven members of the organization, which includes victims and supporters from over thirty nations, met with the Pope in his official residence.
The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.
The pontiff was characterized as "quite empathetic" when hearing the story of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in Canada.
They noted the leader was "compassionate" about their own story and seemed "modest, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," they commented. "I felt like he was genuine, practical, and very open and eager to work with us."
Canon Law Reforms
The organization is advocating that revisions to canon law will facilitate the adoption of the strict approach globally.
They have consulted experts and compiled documents that they will submit to the pontiff.
"He appeared engaged in reviewing it," they remarked.
Responsibility Emphasized
A recent church-ordered report highlighted the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or dismissal of religious officials or personnel in cases of abuse or failure to act."
The report also pointed out that victims repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for church leaders and senior officials to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."
Moving Forward
The representative shared they told the Pope at the beginning of their meeting: "This is as much a challenge for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the meeting, Hickey voiced optimism for future change.
"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, uniting and establishing a relationship and continuing to strengthen that relationship is a move in the correct path," they stated.
They concluded that they told with the pontiff: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can change how the narrative concludes - he valued that."
