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Individuals who endured abuse by church officials have voiced fresh optimism after their first meeting with Pope Leo at the Holy See.

The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the Pope's decision to meet with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to addressing the problem.

Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed

The group is pushing for a global strict approach that would defrock any clergy member who confesses to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This approach has been implemented in the US.

The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "resistance in some parts of the globe" to this initiative, according to the representative.

"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is resistance," Hickey remarked.

Legacy Issue

The new Pope, who took the position in May, has inherited this persistent problem that has plagued the Church for decades.

Earlier attempts to address the situation included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the Church and revisions to canon law to clearly outlaw abuse.

Deeply Felt Connection

For Hickey, who uses they/them pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the measure is personal. The North American advocate revealed they were abused by a clergy member who was later transferred between different parishes.

"Hopefully this will set the tone for his leadership, because we aim to collaborate with him," they stated. "Both sides share the same goal, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."

Historic Meeting

Multiple representatives of the coalition, which includes victims and advocates from more than 30 countries, engaged with the Pope in his Vatican office.

The meeting, initially planned for a brief period, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.

The pontiff was characterized as "very understanding" when listening to the account of a female survivor victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in Canada.

Hickey noted the leader was "compassionate" about their own experience and appeared "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth."

"Victims have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," they stated. "I believed like he was genuine, practical, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."

Church Regulations Reforms

The group is advocating that changes to church regulations will enable the adoption of the strict approach globally.

They have spoken with experts and gathered materials that they will submit to the pontiff.

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

Accountability Highlighted

A recently released Vatican-commissioned report emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or removal of religious officials or personnel in cases of misconduct or negligence."

The report also noted that survivors consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for inaction and cover-up."

Path Ahead

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

After the meeting, they expressed optimism for future change.

"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, uniting and building a connection and continuing to build that relationship is a move in the correct path," they commented.

They concluded that they told with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can change how the narrative concludes - he appreciated that."