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

Gemma Hickey, heading the anti-abuse organization, stated that the Pope's decision to engage with them so early in his leadership spoke volumes about his dedication to addressing the issue.

Global Zero-Tolerance Policy Advocated

The group is pushing for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any clergy member who confesses to or is proven of abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the US.

The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "opposition in certain regions of the world" to this initiative, according to the representative.

"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is resistance," they stated.

Inherited Challenge

The new Pope, who took the position in May, has taken on this longstanding issue that has haunted the Catholic Church for decades.

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

Personal Link

For the representative, who uses they/them pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the policy is deeply meaningful. The Canadian advocate shared they were abused by a priest who was subsequently transferred between various churches.

"Hopefully this will set the tone for his papacy, because we want to work with him," Hickey stated. "Both sides share the same goal, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."

Significant Meeting

Seven members of the coalition, which includes survivors and supporters from over thirty nations, engaged with the Pope in his Vatican office.

The discussion, originally scheduled for a brief period, extended to a full hour, during which the Pope "primarily heard to us," according to Hickey.

The pontiff was characterized as "quite empathetic" when hearing the account of a woman abused at a church-run institution for Indigenous children in North America.

Hickey added the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal experience and appeared "modest, humorous, and very down to earth."

"Victims have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," they commented. "I believed 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 enable the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.

They have consulted specialists and compiled documents that they will present to the pontiff.

"He appeared interested in looking at it," they noted.

Accountability Highlighted

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

The report also pointed out that survivors repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for bishops and major superiors to be held accountable for inaction and concealment."

Path Ahead

Hickey shared they told the pontiff at the beginning of their meeting: "This represents as much a risk for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."

Following the encounter, Hickey expressed optimism for progress.

"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, uniting and building a relationship and persisting to build that relationship is a move in the right direction," they commented.

Hickey concluded that they shared with the pontiff: "Just because it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the story ends - he appreciated that."