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People who endured abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed renewed hope after their initial meeting with Pope Leo at the Holy See.

The board president, who leads the anti-abuse organization, stated that the pontiff's choice to engage with them so early in his papacy sent a strong message about his commitment to addressing the problem.

Global Strict Approach Advocated

The group is advocating for a worldwide strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who confesses to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This approach has been implemented in the US.

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

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

Inherited Challenge

The current pontiff, who took the role in May, has taken on this longstanding issue that has haunted the Church for decades.

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

Deeply Felt Link

For the representative, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the policy is deeply meaningful. The North American advocate shared they were abused by a priest who was subsequently transferred between different parishes.

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

Significant Meeting

Multiple members of the organization, which represents survivors and supporters from over thirty nations, engaged with the Pope in his Vatican office.

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

The pontiff 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.

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

"Survivors have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," Hickey stated. "I felt like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and eager to work with us."

Church Regulations Reforms

The group is advocating that revisions to church regulations will facilitate the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy globally.

They have consulted experts and compiled documents that they plan to present to the pontiff.

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

Responsibility Highlighted

A recently released Vatican-commissioned report highlighted the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or dismissal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of misconduct or failure to act."

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

Moving Forward

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

Following the meeting, they voiced hope for progress.

"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, coming together and establishing a connection and persisting to strengthen that bond is a step in the right direction," they stated.

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