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Individuals who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism after their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Vatican.

Gemma Hickey, heading the anti-abuse organization, stated that the Pope's decision to engage with them so soon in his papacy spoke volumes about his dedication to tackling the problem.

Global Zero-Tolerance Approach Advocated

The organization is advocating for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who confesses to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the US.

The Pontiff recognized that there is "resistance in some parts of the globe" to this proposal, according to Hickey.

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

Legacy Issue

The current pontiff, who took the position in May, has inherited this longstanding issue that has plagued the Catholic Church for many years.

Previous efforts to address the situation included an unprecedented meeting on paedophilia within the institution and revisions to church laws to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.

Personal Link

For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The Canadian activist revealed they were abused by a priest who was subsequently transferred between different parishes.

"Hopefully this will set the tone for his leadership, because we aim to collaborate with him," Hickey stated. "Both sides share the common objective, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."

Significant Encounter

Seven representatives of the coalition, which represents survivors and supporters from more than 30 countries, met with the Pontiff in his official residence.

The discussion, initially planned for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.

The pontiff was described as "very understanding" when hearing the story of a female survivor abused at a church-run institution for native youth in Canada.

Hickey noted the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal experience and appeared "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth."

"Survivors have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," they stated. "I felt like he was genuine, practical, and very open and eager to work with us."

Church Regulations Changes

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

They have consulted specialists and compiled materials that they plan to submit to Pope Leo.

"He appeared engaged in reviewing it," Hickey remarked.

Responsibility Emphasized

A recent Vatican-commissioned document emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or removal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of abuse or negligence."

The document also pointed out that survivors consistently emphasized the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."

Moving Forward

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

Following the encounter, Hickey voiced optimism for progress.

"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, coming together and building a connection and persisting to build that relationship is a move in the right direction," Hickey commented.

Hickey added that they told with the pontiff: "Just because it's a difficult period, I believe like we can change how the story ends - he valued that."