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People who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope following their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.

Gemma Hickey, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the Pope's choice to meet with them so soon in his papacy spoke volumes about his commitment to addressing the issue.

Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed

The organization is pushing for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is proven of abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the United States.

The Pope recognized that there is "opposition in certain regions of the globe" to this proposal, according to Hickey.

"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is resistance," they remarked.

Inherited Issue

The current pontiff, who assumed the position in May, has inherited this longstanding issue that has plagued the Catholic Church for decades.

Previous efforts to resolve the problem included an historic meeting on paedophilia within the Church and changes to church laws to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.

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For Hickey, who prefers they/them pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the policy is deeply meaningful. The North American activist shared they were victimized by a clergy member who was later transferred between different parishes.

"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we aim to collaborate with him," they stated. "We have the common objective, we want to end clergy abuse."

Significant Meeting

Multiple members of the coalition, which represents victims and supporters from over thirty countries, met with the Pope in his Vatican office.

The meeting, initially planned for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.

The pontiff was characterized as "quite empathetic" when hearing the account of a female survivor victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in Canada.

They added the leader was "compassionate" about their own experience and seemed "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth."

"Victims have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," Hickey stated. "I felt like he was sincere, realistic, and receptive and eager to work with us."

Church Regulations Reforms

The organization is advocating that changes to canon law will enable the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy globally.

They have spoken with experts and compiled documents that they will submit to Pope Leo.

"He appeared interested in looking at it," Hickey remarked.

Accountability Emphasized

A recently released Vatican-commissioned report highlighted the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the resignation and/or removal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of abuse or negligence."

The report also noted that victims repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for bishops and major superiors to be held accountable for inaction and concealment."

Moving Forward

The representative revealed they told the pontiff at the start of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."

After the meeting, Hickey voiced optimism for future change.

"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, coming together and building a connection and persisting to strengthen that bond is a move in the right direction," Hickey stated.

They added that they told with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can change how the story concludes - he appreciated that."