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Individuals who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism following their initial encounter with Pope Leo at the Vatican.

The board president, heading the anti-abuse organization, commented that the pontiff's choice to engage with them so early in his papacy spoke volumes about his commitment to addressing the problem.

Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed

The organization is pushing for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would defrock any clergy member who confesses to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the US.

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

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

Legacy Issue

The current pontiff, who took the position in spring, has inherited this longstanding problem that has plagued the Catholic Church for decades.

Earlier attempts to address the situation included an unprecedented meeting on paedophilia within the Church and changes to church laws to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.

Personal Link

For the representative, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the measure is personal. The North American advocate shared they were victimized by a clergy member who was later transferred between different parishes.

"Hopefully this will set the tone for his papacy, because we aim to collaborate with him," they stated. "We have the common objective, we want to end clergy abuse."

Significant Meeting

Multiple representatives of the organization, which includes victims and advocates from over thirty countries, met with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.

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

The Pope was described as "very understanding" when hearing the story of a female survivor abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in Canada.

Hickey noted the Pope was "tender" about their own experience and seemed "very humble, funny, and approachable."

"Survivors have consistently sought a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," Hickey commented. "I felt like he was genuine, practical, and very open and eager to work with us."

Church Regulations Changes

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

They have consulted specialists and compiled documents that they plan to submit to Pope Leo.

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

Responsibility Highlighted

A recently released church-ordered report highlighted the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or removal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of misconduct or failure to act."

The report also pointed out that survivors repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for bishops and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."

Path Ahead

Hickey shared they told the pontiff at the beginning of their meeting: "This represents as much a challenge for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."

After the meeting, they expressed hope for future change.

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

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