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People who endured sexual abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope after their initial meeting with Pope Leo at the Vatican.

Gemma Hickey, who leads the anti-abuse organization, stated that the Pope's decision to engage with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to tackling the issue.

Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed

The organization is advocating for a global strict approach that would defrock any priest who confesses to or is proven of abusing a child. This approach has been implemented in the United States.

The Pontiff recognized that there is "opposition in some parts of the globe" to this proposal, according to the representative.

"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is pushback," they remarked.

Legacy Challenge

The new Pope, who assumed the position in spring, has inherited this persistent issue that has plagued the Catholic Church for many years.

Previous efforts to address the situation included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the Church and changes to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.

Deeply Felt Link

For Hickey, who prefers they/them pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the policy is personal. The North American activist shared they were victimized by a priest who was later moved between different parishes.

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

Significant Encounter

Multiple members of the coalition, which represents victims and supporters from more than 30 nations, 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 "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.

The Pope was described as "very understanding" when hearing the account of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.

They noted the leader was "compassionate" about their personal experience and seemed "very humble, funny, and very down to earth."

"Victims have consistently sought a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," Hickey commented. "I believed like he was sincere, practical, and receptive and eager to collaborate with us."

Church Regulations Reforms

The organization is hoping that changes to canon law will enable the adoption of the strict approach worldwide.

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

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

Responsibility Highlighted

A recently released church-ordered report emphasized the "importance of a efficient process for the resignation and/or removal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of abuse or negligence."

The report also noted that victims consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and senior officials to be made responsible for inaction and concealment."

Moving Forward

The representative revealed they told the pontiff at the start of their discussion: "This is as much a risk for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."

Following the meeting, Hickey voiced hope for future change.

"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, coming together and building a connection and persisting to strengthen that bond is a step in the right direction," they commented.

They added that they shared with the pontiff: "Just because it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the story concludes - he appreciated that."