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Individuals who endured sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have voiced renewed hope following their initial meeting with Pope Leo at the Vatican.

The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the Pope's choice to meet with them so early in his papacy sent a strong message about his commitment to tackling the problem.

Global Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed

The group is advocating for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who admits to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This approach has been implemented in the US.

The Pontiff recognized that there is "opposition in certain regions of the globe" to this proposal, according to Hickey.

"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is resistance," they remarked.

Inherited Issue

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

Earlier attempts to address the situation included an historic summit on paedophilia within the Church and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.

Deeply Felt Connection

For Hickey, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the measure is personal. The Canadian activist shared they were victimized by a clergy member who was later transferred between different parishes.

"We trust this will set the tone for his papacy, because we aim to collaborate with him," they stated. "We have the same goal, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."

Significant Meeting

Multiple representatives of the coalition, which represents victims and advocates from more than 30 countries, met with the Pope in his Vatican office.

The meeting, initially planned for a brief period, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.

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

Hickey added the Pope was "tender" about their personal story and appeared "modest, 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 stated. "I felt like he was sincere, practical, and receptive and eager to collaborate with us."

Canon Law Reforms

The organization is advocating that changes to church regulations will facilitate the implementation of the strict approach worldwide.

They have consulted experts and compiled materials that they plan to present to Pope Leo.

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

Responsibility Highlighted

A recently released church-ordered report emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or removal of religious officials or staff in cases of misconduct or failure to act."

The report also noted that survivors consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for bishops and senior officials to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."

Moving Forward

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

Following the encounter, they voiced optimism for progress.

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

They added that they shared with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the narrative ends - he valued that."