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People who experienced abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope after their first meeting with the new Pope at the Holy See.

Gemma Hickey, 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.

Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Approach Advocated

The group is pushing for a global 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 United States.

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

"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," Hickey remarked.

Legacy Challenge

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

Previous efforts to address the problem included an historic summit on paedophilia within the institution and revisions to church laws to explicitly criminalize abuse.

Deeply Felt Link

For the representative, who prefers they/them pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the policy is deeply meaningful. The Canadian advocate shared they were abused by a priest who was later transferred between different parishes.

"We trust this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we want to work with him," Hickey stated. "We have the same goal, we want to end abuse by religious officials."

Significant Meeting

Seven representatives of the coalition, which represents survivors and supporters from over thirty countries, met with the Pontiff in his official residence.

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

The Pope was described as "quite empathetic" when listening to the account of a female survivor abused at a church-run institution for native youth in Canada.

Hickey noted the leader was "tender" about their personal story and seemed "modest, humorous, and very down to earth."

"Victims have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was making empty promises," Hickey commented. "I felt like he was genuine, practical, and very open and keen to work with us."

Church Regulations Changes

The group is hoping that changes to canon law will facilitate the adoption of the strict approach worldwide.

They have spoken with experts and gathered materials that they will submit to the pontiff.

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

Accountability Highlighted

A recent Vatican-commissioned document emphasized the "importance of a efficient process for the resignation and/or removal of religious officials or staff in cases of misconduct or failure to act."

The document also noted that victims repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for church leaders and senior officials to be held accountable for negligence and concealment."

Path Ahead

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

After the meeting, Hickey expressed optimism for future change.

"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, uniting and establishing a connection and persisting to build that relationship is a move in the correct path," Hickey commented.

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