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People who experienced abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope after their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.

The board president, who leads the anti-abuse organization, stated that the Pope's decision to meet with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to tackling the problem.

Global Strict Policy Pushed

The organization is advocating for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is found guilty of abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the United States.

The Pontiff recognized that there is "opposition in certain regions of the world" to this proposal, according to the representative.

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

Inherited Challenge

The new Pope, who assumed the role in spring, has taken on this persistent problem that has haunted the Church for decades.

Previous efforts to resolve the problem included an historic meeting on paedophilia within the Church and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.

Deeply Felt Connection

For Hickey, who prefers they/them pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the measure is personal. The Canadian advocate shared they were victimized by a clergy member who was later moved between various churches.

"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we want to work with him," Hickey expressed. "Both sides share the same goal, we seek to eliminate clergy abuse."

Significant Encounter

Seven members of the organization, which includes survivors and advocates from over thirty countries, met with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.

The meeting, initially planned for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.

The Pope was characterized as "quite empathetic" when hearing the story of a woman abused at a church-run institution for native youth in North America.

Hickey added the leader was "compassionate" about their own experience and appeared "modest, funny, and approachable."

"Survivors have consistently sought a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," they stated. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and keen to work with us."

Canon Law Reforms

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

They have spoken with specialists and compiled documents that they will submit to Pope Leo.

"He seemed engaged in reviewing it," Hickey noted.

Responsibility Emphasized

A recent church-ordered report highlighted the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or removal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of abuse or negligence."

The document also noted that survivors repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for church leaders and senior officials to be held accountable for inaction and concealment."

Moving Forward

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

After the encounter, they voiced optimism for progress.

"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, coming together and building a connection and continuing to strengthen that bond is a step in the correct path," they commented.

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