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Individuals who experienced sexual abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope after their first meeting with Pope Leo at the Vatican.

Gemma Hickey, who leads the anti-abuse organization, commented that the Pope's choice to meet with them so early in his papacy spoke volumes about his dedication to addressing the problem.

Global Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed

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

The Pope recognized that there is "opposition in certain regions of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey.

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

Legacy Issue

The new Pope, who assumed the role in May, has taken on this persistent problem that has plagued the Catholic Church for many years.

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

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For Hickey, who uses they/them pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the measure is deeply meaningful. The North American advocate shared they were victimized by a priest who was subsequently transferred between various churches.

"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we want to work with him," Hickey expressed. "We have the same goal, we want to end abuse by religious officials."

Significant Meeting

Seven representatives of the coalition, which represents survivors and advocates from more than 30 countries, engaged with the Pontiff 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 Hickey.

The pontiff was characterized as "very understanding" when hearing the account of a woman victimized at a church-run institution for Indigenous children in North America.

They noted the Pope was "compassionate" about their own experience and seemed "modest, humorous, and approachable."

"Survivors have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," Hickey commented. "I felt like he was sincere, realistic, and very open and keen to work with us."

Church Regulations Changes

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

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

"He seemed interested in reviewing it," they remarked.

Responsibility Highlighted

A recent Vatican-commissioned report emphasized the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the resignation and/or dismissal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of abuse or negligence."

The document also pointed out that victims repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for church leaders and major superiors to be held accountable for inaction and cover-up."

Path Ahead

Hickey revealed they informed the pontiff at the beginning of their meeting: "This represents as much a risk for him to participate in a conversation as it was for us."

After the encounter, Hickey voiced optimism for progress.

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

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