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

Gemma Hickey, heading the anti-abuse organization, stated that the pontiff's decision to engage with them so early in his leadership spoke volumes about his commitment to tackling the problem.

Global Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed

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

The Pope acknowledged 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 remarked.

Legacy Challenge

The new Pope, who assumed the position in spring, has taken on this persistent problem that has plagued the Church for many years.

Previous efforts to resolve the problem included an historic summit on paedophilia within the Church and revisions to canon law to explicitly criminalize abuse.

Personal Connection

For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the measure is deeply meaningful. The Canadian activist shared they were victimized by a priest who was subsequently transferred between different parishes.

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

Historic Meeting

Seven representatives of the organization, which includes survivors and advocates 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 Pope "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.

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

Hickey added the leader was "compassionate" about their own story and seemed "very humble, funny, and very down to earth."

"Survivors have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," they commented. "I believed like he was sincere, practical, and receptive and keen to collaborate with us."

Church Regulations Reforms

The group is hoping that changes to church regulations will facilitate the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy globally.

They have consulted specialists and compiled documents that they will present to Pope Leo.

"He seemed interested in looking at it," they remarked.

Accountability Emphasized

A recent Vatican-commissioned report highlighted the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or removal of religious officials or personnel in cases of abuse or negligence."

The document also noted that victims repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."

Moving Forward

The representative shared they told the Pope at the start of their discussion: "This is as much a risk for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."

After the encounter, they voiced hope for progress.

"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, uniting and building a connection and persisting to strengthen that bond is a step in the correct path," they stated.

They added that they shared with the pontiff: "Just because it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the story concludes - he valued that."