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People who experienced sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have voiced renewed hope following their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Vatican.

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

Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed

The group is pushing for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who admits to or is proven of abusing a minor. This approach has been implemented in the United States.

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

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

Inherited Challenge

The current pontiff, who assumed the position in May, has taken on this longstanding problem that has haunted the Catholic Church for decades.

Previous efforts to address the situation included an historic meeting on paedophilia within the institution and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.

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For the representative, who prefers they/them pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the policy is deeply meaningful. The North American activist revealed they were victimized by a priest who was later moved between different parishes.

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

Significant Encounter

Seven members of the organization, which includes survivors and supporters from over thirty countries, engaged with the Pope in his official residence.

The meeting, initially planned for a brief period, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.

The Pope was characterized as "quite empathetic" when listening to the story of a woman victimized at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.

They noted the leader was "tender" about their own story and appeared "very humble, funny, and approachable."

"Survivors have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," Hickey commented. "I believed like he was sincere, realistic, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."

Church Regulations Changes

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

They have spoken with specialists and gathered materials that they plan to submit to Pope Leo.

"He seemed interested in reviewing it," Hickey noted.

Responsibility Emphasized

A recently released church-ordered report emphasized the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or dismissal of Church leaders 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 inaction and concealment."

Moving Forward

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

Following the encounter, Hickey voiced hope for future change.

"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, uniting and building a relationship and persisting to build that relationship is a step in the right direction," Hickey commented.

They added that they shared with the pontiff: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can alter how the narrative ends - he appreciated that."