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People who endured sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed fresh optimism after their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Vatican.

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

Global Zero-Tolerance Policy Advocated

The organization is pushing for a worldwide strict approach that would defrock any priest who confesses to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This policy has been implemented in the United States.

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

"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is resistance," Hickey stated.

Legacy Issue

The new Pope, who assumed the role in spring, has inherited this longstanding issue that has haunted the Catholic Church for many years.

Earlier attempts to address the situation included an unprecedented summit on paedophilia within the Church and changes to canon law to clearly outlaw abuse.

Personal Link

For the representative, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The Canadian advocate shared they were abused by a priest who was later transferred between various churches.

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

Significant Meeting

Seven representatives of the coalition, which represents 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 pontiff was characterized as "quite empathetic" when listening to the story of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in Canada.

Hickey noted the leader was "tender" about their personal experience and appeared "modest, funny, and very down to earth."

"Survivors have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," Hickey stated. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."

Canon Law Reforms

The group is advocating that revisions to church regulations will facilitate the adoption of the strict approach globally.

They have spoken with experts and compiled materials that they plan to submit to the pontiff.

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

Accountability Highlighted

A recently released Vatican-commissioned report emphasized the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or dismissal of Church leaders or staff in cases of misconduct 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 negligence and cover-up."

Moving Forward

Hickey revealed they informed the Pope at the start of their discussion: "This is as much a risk for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."

After the encounter, they expressed hope for progress.

"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, uniting and establishing a relationship and continuing to strengthen that bond is a step in the right direction," Hickey commented.

They concluded that they told with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can change how the narrative ends - he valued that."