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

The board president, heading the anti-abuse organization, stated that the Pope's choice to engage with them so early in his leadership spoke volumes about his commitment to addressing the issue.

Global Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed

The group is pushing for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would defrock any priest who admits to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the US.

The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "opposition in some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey.

"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is pushback," Hickey remarked.

Legacy Challenge

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

Previous efforts to address the problem included an unprecedented summit on child abuse within the Church and revisions to church laws to explicitly criminalize abuse.

Deeply Felt Link

For Hickey, who uses they/them pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the measure is personal. The Canadian activist revealed they were victimized by a clergy member who was subsequently transferred between different parishes.

"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we aim to work with him," Hickey expressed. "Both sides share the same goal, we seek to end abuse by religious officials."

Significant Meeting

Seven members of the coalition, which includes survivors and advocates from more than 30 countries, met with the Pope in his Vatican office.

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

The pontiff was described as "very understanding" when listening to the account of a female survivor victimized at a church-run institution for native youth in North America.

Hickey added the Pope was "tender" about their personal story and seemed "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth."

"Survivors have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was making empty promises," Hickey stated. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and keen to work with us."

Church Regulations Changes

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

They have consulted specialists and gathered documents that they will present to Pope Leo.

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

Accountability Highlighted

A recent Vatican-commissioned report emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or removal of Church leaders or staff in cases of misconduct or failure to act."

The report also noted that victims consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."

Path Ahead

Hickey shared they informed the pontiff at the start of their meeting: "This is as much a risk for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."

After the encounter, Hickey expressed hope for future change.

"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, uniting and building a relationship and continuing to strengthen that bond is a move in the right direction," they commented.

Hickey concluded that they told with the pontiff: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the narrative ends - he valued that."