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Individuals who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism following their initial encounter with the new Pope at the Vatican.

The board president, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the pontiff's decision to meet with them so early in his papacy spoke volumes about his commitment to tackling the problem.

Worldwide Strict Approach Advocated

The organization is pushing for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who admits to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a minor. This approach has already been adopted in the US.

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

"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is pushback," they remarked.

Inherited Challenge

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

Previous efforts to resolve the situation included an historic summit on child abuse within the institution and changes to canon law to explicitly criminalize abuse.

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For the representative, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the policy is deeply meaningful. The Canadian activist shared they were victimized by a priest who was later moved between different parishes.

"We trust this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey expressed. "Both sides share the same goal, we seek to end abuse by religious officials."

Historic Meeting

Seven representatives of the organization, which represents survivors and advocates from over thirty nations, met with the Pontiff in his official residence.

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

The Pope was described as "quite empathetic" when hearing the story of a female survivor abused at a church-run institution for Indigenous children in North America.

They noted the Pope was "compassionate" about their own story and seemed "very humble, humorous, and approachable."

"Survivors have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," they stated. "I felt like he was sincere, realistic, and receptive and eager to work with us."

Canon Law Reforms

The group is advocating that revisions to church regulations will facilitate the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.

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

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

Accountability Highlighted

A recently released Vatican-commissioned report emphasized the "importance of a efficient process for the resignation and/or removal of Church leaders or staff in cases of misconduct or failure to act."

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

Moving Forward

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

After the encounter, they expressed hope for future change.

"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, uniting and building a connection and persisting to strengthen that bond is a move in the correct path," they commented.

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