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People who endured abuse by church officials have voiced fresh optimism following their first meeting with Pope Leo at the Vatican.

Gemma Hickey, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the pontiff's decision to engage with them so soon in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to tackling the issue.

Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed

The group is advocating for a global zero-tolerance policy that would defrock any clergy member who admits to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This policy has already been adopted in the United States.

The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "opposition in some parts of the world" to this proposal, according to the representative.

"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey remarked.

Inherited Issue

The current pontiff, who assumed the position in spring, has inherited this longstanding problem that has haunted the Catholic Church for many years.

Earlier attempts to address the situation included an unprecedented summit on child abuse within the institution and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize abuse.

Personal Link

For the representative, who uses they/them pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the measure is deeply meaningful. The Canadian activist revealed they were abused by a clergy member who was later transferred between various churches.

"We trust this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we aim to work with him," Hickey stated. "We have the same goal, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."

Historic Meeting

Seven members of the coalition, which includes survivors and supporters from over thirty nations, engaged with the Pontiff in his official residence.

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 "very understanding" when hearing the story of a female survivor victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.

They added the leader was "tender" about their own experience and appeared "modest, humorous, and approachable."

"Victims have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," they stated. "I felt like he was sincere, practical, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."

Church Regulations Changes

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

They have spoken with experts and gathered materials that they plan to submit to Pope Leo.

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

Responsibility Emphasized

A recently released Vatican-commissioned document highlighted the "importance of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or dismissal of religious officials or staff in cases of abuse or negligence."

The document also noted that survivors repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for church leaders and senior officials to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."

Moving Forward

Hickey shared they informed the Pope at the beginning of their discussion: "This is as much a risk for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."

After the meeting, they expressed optimism for future change.

"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, coming together and establishing a connection and persisting to build that relationship is a move in the correct path," Hickey stated.

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