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People who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope after their initial encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.

Gemma Hickey, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the Pope's decision to engage with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to tackling the issue.

Global Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed

The organization is pushing for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is proven of sexually abusing a minor. 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 the representative.

"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," they remarked.

Legacy Challenge

The new Pope, who assumed the position in May, has taken on this persistent problem that has haunted the Catholic Church for decades.

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

Deeply Felt Connection

For the representative, who prefers they/them pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the policy is deeply meaningful. The Canadian activist shared they were abused by a clergy member who was subsequently moved between different parishes.

"We trust this will set the tone for his papacy, because we aim to collaborate with him," they expressed. "We have the common objective, we seek to eliminate clergy abuse."

Historic Meeting

Multiple members of the organization, which includes victims and supporters from over thirty countries, engaged with the Pope in his Vatican office.

The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.

The Pope was characterized as "very understanding" when hearing the account of a female survivor victimized at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.

Hickey noted the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal story and seemed "modest, humorous, and approachable."

"Victims 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, realistic, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."

Church Regulations Reforms

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

They have consulted experts and gathered documents that they will submit to Pope Leo.

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

Responsibility Highlighted

A recently released church-ordered report emphasized the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or dismissal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of abuse or failure to act."

The document also noted that victims repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for bishops and major superiors to be made responsible for inaction and concealment."

Path Ahead

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

Following the meeting, they voiced optimism for progress.

"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, coming together and building a relationship and persisting to build that relationship is a step in the correct path," Hickey stated.

Hickey concluded that they told with the pontiff: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can change how the narrative concludes - he appreciated that."