Individuals who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope after their initial meeting with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
The board president, who leads 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 commitment to addressing the problem.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The organization is pushing for a global strict approach that would defrock any priest who admits to or is proven of sexually abusing a minor. This approach has been implemented 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 recognized that there is resistance," they stated.
Inherited Issue
The new Pope, who took the role in spring, has taken on this persistent problem that has plagued the Church for many years.
Previous efforts to address the situation included an unprecedented meeting on paedophilia within the institution and revisions to church laws to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.
Personal Link
For Hickey, who uses they/them pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the measure is personal. The North American advocate shared they were victimized by a clergy member who was later transferred between various churches.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his papacy, because we aim to collaborate with him," they stated. "We have the same goal, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."
Historic Meeting
Multiple members of the organization, which includes survivors and supporters from over thirty countries, engaged with the Pope in his Vatican office.
The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.
The pontiff was described as "quite empathetic" when listening to the account of a female survivor abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.
They noted the leader was "compassionate" about their personal experience and seemed "very humble, humorous, and approachable."
"Survivors have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," Hickey commented. "I felt like he was sincere, practical, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."
Church Regulations Changes
The organization is hoping that revisions to canon law will enable the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy globally.
They have consulted specialists and gathered documents that they will present to Pope Leo.
"He appeared interested in looking at it," they noted.
Responsibility Highlighted
A recent church-ordered report highlighted the "necessity of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or dismissal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The document also noted that survivors consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and senior officials to be held accountable for inaction and cover-up."
Moving Forward
Hickey shared they told the Pope at the beginning of their meeting: "This represents as much a challenge for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
After the encounter, they expressed hope for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, coming together and building a connection and continuing to strengthen that bond is a step in the right direction," Hickey stated.
Hickey added that they told with the pontiff: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can alter how the story ends - he valued that."
