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People who experienced abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope after their first meeting with Pope Leo at the Holy See.

Gemma Hickey, heading the anti-abuse organization, stated that the Pope's choice to meet with them so early in his papacy sent a strong message about his commitment to addressing the issue.

Global Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed

The organization is advocating for a global zero-tolerance policy that would defrock any priest who confesses to or is found guilty of abusing a child. This policy has already been adopted in the United States.

The Pope acknowledged that there is "opposition in certain regions of the globe" to this initiative, according to Hickey.

"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is pushback," they stated.

Legacy Issue

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

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

Personal Link

For the representative, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The Canadian activist revealed they were victimized by a clergy member who was later transferred between various churches.

"Hopefully this will set the tone for his leadership, because we want to work with him," they stated. "Both sides share the same goal, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."

Significant Meeting

Multiple members of the organization, which represents victims and supporters from over thirty countries, engaged with the Pontiff in his official residence.

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

The pontiff was characterized as "quite empathetic" when hearing the account of a female survivor victimized at a church-run institution for Indigenous children in Canada.

They noted the Pope was "tender" about their personal experience and appeared "very humble, funny, and very down to earth."

"Survivors 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 genuine, practical, and receptive and eager to collaborate with us."

Canon Law Reforms

The group is advocating that changes to canon law will enable the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy globally.

They have consulted specialists and gathered documents that they plan to submit to the pontiff.

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

Accountability Emphasized

A recent church-ordered document highlighted the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the resignation and/or dismissal of religious officials or staff in cases of misconduct or negligence."

The document also noted that victims repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for bishops and senior officials to be made responsible for inaction and cover-up."

Moving Forward

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

Following the meeting, Hickey voiced hope for future change.

"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, coming together and building a relationship and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a move in the correct path," Hickey commented.

They added that they shared with the pontiff: "Just because it's a difficult period, I feel like we can alter how the narrative ends - he appreciated that."