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

The board president, who leads the anti-abuse organization, stated that the pontiff's choice to meet with them so early in his leadership spoke volumes about his dedication to addressing the problem.

Global Strict Approach Advocated

The organization is pushing for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any clergy member who confesses to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the US.

The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "resistance in certain regions of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey.

"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is pushback," they stated.

Legacy Challenge

The current pontiff, who took the position in May, has inherited this longstanding issue that has plagued the Catholic Church for many years.

Previous efforts to address the problem included an historic meeting on paedophilia within the Church and revisions to canon law to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.

Personal Link

For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the policy is personal. The North American activist shared they were abused by a clergy member who was later transferred between various churches.

"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we aim to work with him," Hickey stated. "We have the common objective, we seek to end abuse by religious officials."

Historic Encounter

Multiple representatives of the organization, which includes survivors and advocates from over thirty countries, engaged with the Pope in his Vatican office.

The discussion, initially planned for a brief period, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.

The Pope was described as "very understanding" when hearing the account of a woman victimized at a church-run institution for Indigenous children in Canada.

They added the leader was "tender" about their own story and seemed "modest, funny, and very down to earth."

"Victims have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," they stated. "I believed like he was sincere, practical, and receptive and keen to work with us."

Church Regulations Reforms

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

They have spoken with experts and compiled materials that they will present to the pontiff.

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

Responsibility Highlighted

A recently released Vatican-commissioned report highlighted the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the resignation and/or dismissal of religious officials or personnel in cases of misconduct or failure to act."

The report also pointed out that survivors repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for church leaders and senior officials to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."

Path Ahead

Hickey shared they told the Pope at the beginning of their meeting: "This represents as much a challenge for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."

Following the encounter, they expressed optimism for future change.

"We understand it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, coming together and building a connection and continuing to build that bond is a step in the correct path," Hickey stated.

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