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People who endured sexual abuse by church officials have voiced fresh optimism after their initial meeting with the new Pope at the Vatican.

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

Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Approach Pushed

The organization is advocating for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who confesses to or is found guilty of abusing a child. This approach has been implemented in the US.

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

"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," they remarked.

Legacy Challenge

The current pontiff, who took the role in May, has taken on this persistent issue that has plagued the Catholic Church for many years.

Previous efforts to resolve the situation included an unprecedented meeting on paedophilia within the institution and revisions to church laws to explicitly criminalize abuse.

Personal Link

For Hickey, who uses they/them pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the measure is personal. The North American advocate shared they were victimized by a clergy member who was later transferred between different parishes.

"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we want to work with him," they stated. "Both sides share the common objective, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."

Historic Meeting

Seven representatives of the organization, which represents victims and advocates from more than 30 countries, met with the Pope in his official residence.

The meeting, initially planned for 20 minutes, lasted to a full hour, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.

The pontiff was characterized as "very understanding" when listening to the story of a woman victimized at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in Canada.

Hickey noted the leader was "compassionate" about their own experience and appeared "very humble, humorous, and approachable."

"Victims have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," they stated. "I believed like he was sincere, realistic, and very open and eager to work with us."

Church Regulations Changes

The organization is advocating that revisions to canon law will facilitate the implementation of the strict approach globally.

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

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

Accountability Highlighted

A recent Vatican-commissioned report emphasized the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or removal of Church leaders or staff in cases of misconduct or failure to act."

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

Moving Forward

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

After the meeting, Hickey voiced optimism for progress.

"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, uniting and building a connection and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a move in the right direction," they commented.

Hickey added that they told with the pontiff: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can alter how the story ends - he valued that."