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Individuals who experienced abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed renewed hope after their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Vatican.

Gemma Hickey, who leads the anti-abuse organization, stated that the pontiff's decision to engage with them so soon in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to tackling the problem.

Global Strict Policy Advocated

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 US.

The Pope acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the world" to this proposal, according to Hickey.

"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is resistance," they stated.

Inherited Challenge

The new Pope, who took the position in spring, has taken on this persistent problem that has haunted the Catholic Church for many years.

Previous efforts to resolve the situation included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the Church and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize abuse.

Deeply Felt Connection

For the representative, who uses they/them pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the measure is deeply meaningful. The North American activist shared they were abused by a clergy member who was later moved between various churches.

"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we want to work with him," they expressed. "We have the common objective, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."

Historic Encounter

Multiple members of the coalition, which represents victims and supporters from more than 30 nations, engaged with the Pope in his Vatican office.

The discussion, initially planned for a brief period, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.

The pontiff was characterized as "very understanding" when listening to the account of a woman victimized at a church-run institution for Indigenous children in Canada.

They added the leader was "compassionate" about their own story and seemed "modest, funny, and approachable."

"Survivors have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," Hickey stated. "I felt like he was genuine, realistic, and receptive and eager to work with us."

Church Regulations Changes

The group is hoping that revisions to church regulations will enable the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy globally.

They have consulted experts and compiled documents that they plan to submit to the pontiff.

"He seemed engaged in reviewing it," they noted.

Accountability Highlighted

A recently released church-ordered document highlighted the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or dismissal of religious officials or staff in cases of misconduct or failure to act."

The report also noted that victims repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for church leaders and major superiors to be held accountable for negligence and cover-up."

Path Ahead

The representative shared they told the pontiff at the start of their meeting: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."

Following the encounter, Hickey expressed optimism for progress.

"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, uniting and establishing a relationship and persisting to build that bond is a step in the correct path," they commented.

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 valued that."