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People who endured sexual abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope following their initial meeting with Pope Leo at the Vatican.

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

Global Strict Approach Advocated

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

The Pope recognized that there is "resistance in certain regions of the globe" to this initiative, according to Hickey.

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

Inherited Challenge

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

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

Deeply Felt Connection

For the representative, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the policy is deeply meaningful. The Canadian advocate shared they were abused by a priest who was later moved between various churches.

"We trust this will set the tone for his leadership, because we want to collaborate with him," they stated. "Both sides share the common objective, we seek to end clergy abuse."

Significant Encounter

Multiple members of the coalition, which represents survivors and supporters from over thirty countries, met with the Pope in his Vatican office.

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

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 own story and appeared "very humble, humorous, and approachable."

"Victims have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," Hickey stated. "I felt like he was sincere, realistic, and receptive and keen to work with us."

Canon Law Reforms

The organization is hoping that revisions to canon law will facilitate the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.

They have spoken with experts and gathered documents that they plan to present to the pontiff.

"He seemed engaged in reviewing it," they remarked.

Accountability Highlighted

A recently released Vatican-commissioned document highlighted the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or removal of religious officials or personnel in cases of abuse or negligence."

The document also pointed out that survivors consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and senior officials to be held accountable for negligence and concealment."

Path Ahead

Hickey revealed they informed the pontiff at the start of their meeting: "This represents as much a challenge for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."

After the meeting, Hickey expressed optimism for future change.

"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, coming together and building a relationship and continuing to strengthen that relationship is a move in the correct path," Hickey commented.

Hickey concluded that they told with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the story concludes - he valued that."