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Individuals who endured sexual abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism after their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Vatican.

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

Global Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed

The organization is pushing for a global zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any priest who confesses to or is proven 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 world" to this proposal, according to Hickey.

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

Inherited Challenge

The new Pope, who took the position in May, has inherited this longstanding problem that has plagued the Catholic Church for many years.

Earlier attempts to address the problem included an unprecedented summit on child abuse within the Church and revisions to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.

Deeply Felt Connection

For the representative, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The Canadian advocate revealed they were abused by a priest who was later moved between various churches.

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

Significant Encounter

Seven representatives of the organization, which represents victims and supporters from more than 30 countries, engaged with the Pontiff in his official residence.

The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.

The Pope was characterized as "very understanding" when listening to the story of a woman victimized at a church-run institution for native youth in North America.

They added the leader was "tender" 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 genuine, practical, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."

Church Regulations Changes

The group is advocating that changes to church regulations will enable the implementation of the strict approach globally.

They have consulted experts and gathered documents that they will present to the pontiff.

"He seemed engaged in looking at it," they noted.

Responsibility Emphasized

A recent church-ordered document emphasized the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or dismissal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of misconduct or negligence."

The report also noted that survivors consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and senior officials to be held accountable for negligence and cover-up."

Moving Forward

Hickey shared they informed the Pope at the start of their meeting: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."

Following the meeting, Hickey expressed hope for progress.

"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, uniting and building a connection and continuing to strengthen that bond is a move in the correct path," they stated.

They concluded that they shared with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a difficult period, I believe like we can change how the story concludes - he valued that."