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Individuals who endured abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed fresh optimism following their first meeting with the new Pope at the Vatican.

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

Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed

The organization is pushing for a global zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any priest who confesses to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a child. This policy 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.

"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is resistance," Hickey stated.

Legacy Issue

The new Pope, who assumed the role in May, has inherited this longstanding issue that has haunted the Church for decades.

Previous efforts to address the problem included an historic summit on paedophilia within the institution and changes to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.

Deeply Felt Connection

For the representative, who prefers they/them pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the measure is deeply meaningful. The Canadian activist shared they were victimized by a clergy member who was later transferred between various churches.

"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we aim to collaborate with him," Hickey stated. "Both sides share the same goal, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."

Significant Meeting

Seven members of the coalition, which represents victims and supporters from over thirty nations, met with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.

The meeting, originally scheduled for a brief period, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.

The Pope was described as "very understanding" when hearing the account of a woman abused at a church-run institution for native youth in North America.

Hickey noted the Pope was "tender" about their own experience and appeared "very humble, humorous, and approachable."

"Victims have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," they stated. "I felt like he was genuine, realistic, and receptive and keen to work with us."

Canon Law Reforms

The organization is advocating that revisions to canon law will enable the implementation of the strict approach worldwide.

They have spoken with specialists and gathered documents that they plan to submit to Pope Leo.

"He seemed interested in looking at it," they remarked.

Accountability Highlighted

A recently released church-ordered report emphasized the "importance of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or dismissal of Church leaders or staff in cases of abuse or failure to act."

The document also noted that survivors consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and senior officials to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."

Moving Forward

The representative shared they informed the pontiff at the beginning of their discussion: "This represents as much a challenge for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."

After the encounter, they voiced optimism for progress.

"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, coming together and building a connection and persisting to build that bond is a move in the correct path," they stated.

Hickey added that they told with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the story ends - he appreciated that."