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Individuals who endured abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope following their initial meeting with the new Pope at the Vatican.

Gemma Hickey, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the pontiff's decision to engage with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to addressing the issue.

Global Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed

The group is pushing for a global zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is proven of abusing a minor. This policy has already been adopted in the United States.

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

"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," they stated.

Legacy Challenge

The new Pope, who took the role in spring, has taken on this persistent problem that has haunted the Catholic Church for many years.

Previous efforts to resolve the situation included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the Church and revisions 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 measure is deeply meaningful. The North American activist shared they were victimized by a priest who was later transferred between different parishes.

"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we want to collaborate with him," they expressed. "We have the same goal, we seek to eliminate clergy abuse."

Historic Meeting

Multiple representatives of the coalition, which represents victims and supporters from over thirty nations, engaged with the Pope in his official residence.

The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, lasted to a full hour, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to Hickey.

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

Hickey added the leader was "tender" about their own experience and seemed "modest, funny, and approachable."

"Victims have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was making empty promises," they stated. "I felt like he was genuine, practical, and very open and keen to work with us."

Church Regulations Reforms

The group is advocating that revisions to canon law will facilitate the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy globally.

They have consulted specialists and gathered documents that they plan to submit to Pope Leo.

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

Responsibility Emphasized

A recently released Vatican-commissioned document highlighted the "necessity of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or dismissal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of abuse or negligence."

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

Path Ahead

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

After the meeting, Hickey expressed optimism for progress.

"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, uniting and establishing a relationship and continuing to build that bond is a move in the correct path," Hickey stated.

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