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Individuals who endured sexual abuse by church officials have expressed fresh optimism following their initial encounter with Pope Leo at the Vatican.

The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the pontiff's choice to engage with them so early in his leadership spoke volumes about his commitment to tackling the issue.

Global Strict Policy Pushed

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

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

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

Inherited Challenge

The current pontiff, who took the position in spring, has taken on this longstanding problem that has plagued the Catholic Church for decades.

Earlier attempts to address the situation included an unprecedented summit on child abuse within the Church and revisions to church laws to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.

Deeply Felt Link

For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the policy is deeply meaningful. The North American activist shared they were victimized by a clergy member who was later moved between different parishes.

"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we want to work with him," they stated. "We have the common objective, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."

Significant Encounter

Seven members of the organization, which represents victims and supporters from more than 30 nations, engaged with the Pope in his Vatican office.

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

The pontiff was characterized as "quite empathetic" when listening to the story of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in Canada.

Hickey added the Pope was "tender" about their own experience and appeared "modest, humorous, and approachable."

"Victims have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," they stated. "I felt like he was genuine, practical, and receptive and eager to collaborate with us."

Canon Law Changes

The organization is advocating that changes to canon law will facilitate the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy globally.

They have consulted specialists and gathered materials that they plan to present to the pontiff.

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

Responsibility Highlighted

A recent church-ordered document emphasized the "importance of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or removal of religious officials or staff in cases of misconduct or negligence."

The report also pointed out that victims consistently emphasized the "urgent need for church leaders and major superiors to be held accountable for inaction and cover-up."

Moving Forward

The representative shared they informed the Pope at the start of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."

Following the meeting, Hickey voiced hope for progress.

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

They concluded that they shared with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can alter how the narrative ends - he valued that."