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People who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have voiced fresh optimism following their first meeting with Pope Leo at the Holy See.

Gemma Hickey, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the Pope's choice to meet with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to addressing the issue.

Worldwide Strict Policy Advocated

The group is advocating for a global zero-tolerance policy that would defrock any clergy member who confesses to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a minor. This policy has been implemented in the US.

The Pope recognized that there is "resistance in some parts of the world" to this proposal, according to Hickey.

"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," Hickey stated.

Inherited Challenge

The new Pope, who assumed the role in May, has taken on this longstanding problem that has haunted the Catholic Church for many years.

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

Deeply Felt Connection

For the representative, who uses they/them pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the policy is deeply meaningful. The North American advocate revealed they were abused by a clergy member who was later moved between different parishes.

"We trust this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to work with him," Hickey stated. "We have the common objective, we seek to end clergy abuse."

Historic Encounter

Multiple representatives of the organization, which represents victims and supporters from over thirty nations, engaged with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.

The meeting, initially planned for 20 minutes, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to Hickey.

The Pope was characterized as "very understanding" when hearing the account of a woman victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in Canada.

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

"Victims have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was making empty promises," Hickey commented. "I believed like he was sincere, realistic, and very open and eager 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 spoken with specialists and gathered documents that they plan to submit to the pontiff.

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

Accountability Emphasized

A recently released Vatican-commissioned report highlighted the "necessity of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or dismissal of Church leaders or staff in cases of abuse or negligence."

The report also pointed out that victims consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and senior officials to be held accountable for negligence and concealment."

Moving Forward

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

Following the meeting, Hickey expressed hope for progress.

"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, uniting and establishing a relationship and continuing to strengthen that bond is a step in the right direction," they stated.

They concluded that they told with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the story ends - he valued that."