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Individuals who endured abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed fresh optimism following their first encounter with the new Pope at the Vatican.

Gemma Hickey, heading the anti-abuse organization, stated that the pontiff's choice to engage with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to tackling the issue.

Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed

The organization is pushing for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would defrock any priest who confesses to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This policy has been implemented in the US.

The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the globe" to this proposal, according to Hickey.

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

Inherited Issue

The current pontiff, who took the role in May, has inherited this persistent issue that has plagued the 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 explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.

Personal Link

For the representative, who uses they/them pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the measure is personal. The North American advocate shared they were abused by a priest who was later transferred between different parishes.

"Hopefully this will set the tone for his leadership, because we want to work with him," they expressed. "Both sides share the common objective, we seek to eliminate abuse by religious officials."

Historic Meeting

Seven members of the coalition, which represents victims and supporters from more than 30 nations, met with the Pope in his Vatican office.

The discussion, originally scheduled 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 "quite empathetic" when listening to the account of a woman abused at a church-run institution for Indigenous children in North America.

They added the leader was "tender" about their personal experience and appeared "modest, humorous, and approachable."

"Survivors have consistently sought a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," Hickey stated. "I felt like he was genuine, practical, and receptive and keen to work with us."

Church Regulations Reforms

The organization is advocating that changes to church regulations will enable the implementation of the strict approach globally.

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

"He seemed interested in looking at it," Hickey noted.

Responsibility Emphasized

A recent Vatican-commissioned document emphasized the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the resignation and/or dismissal of religious officials or personnel in cases of abuse or failure to act."

The report also pointed out that victims repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."

Moving Forward

Hickey revealed they told the pontiff at the start of their discussion: "This is as much a challenge for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."

After the meeting, Hickey expressed optimism for future change.

"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, uniting and building a relationship and continuing to build that relationship is a move in the right direction," they stated.

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