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People who endured abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope following their initial encounter with the new Pope at the Holy See.

The board president, who leads the anti-abuse organization, commented that the Pope's decision to engage with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to addressing the problem.

Global Zero-Tolerance Policy Advocated

The group is advocating for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any clergy member who confesses to or is proven of abusing a minor. This approach has been implemented in the United States.

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

"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is pushback," Hickey stated.

Inherited Issue

The new Pope, who took the position in spring, has taken on this longstanding issue that has plagued the Church for many years.

Earlier attempts to address the situation included an historic meeting on child abuse within the Church and revisions to canon law to clearly outlaw abuse.

Deeply Felt Connection

For the representative, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the policy is deeply meaningful. The Canadian activist revealed they were abused by a clergy member who was later moved between various churches.

"We trust this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey expressed. "We have the common objective, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."

Historic Encounter

Seven representatives of the organization, which represents victims and supporters from more than 30 countries, met with the Pope in his Vatican office.

The discussion, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to Hickey.

The Pope was characterized as "very understanding" when listening to the account of a woman victimized at a church-run institution for Indigenous children in North America.

Hickey added the leader was "compassionate" about their own experience and appeared "very humble, funny, and approachable."

"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 sincere, realistic, and very open and keen to work with us."

Canon Law Changes

The organization is advocating that changes to church regulations will enable the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.

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

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

Responsibility Highlighted

A recent church-ordered report highlighted the "importance of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or dismissal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of abuse or failure to act."

The document also pointed out that survivors consistently emphasized the "urgent need for bishops and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."

Moving Forward

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

Following the encounter, Hickey expressed hope for progress.

"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, uniting and building a relationship and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a move in the correct path," they stated.

They added that they shared with Pope Leo: "Just because it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the story ends - he valued that."