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Individuals who endured abuse by church officials have expressed renewed hope following their initial encounter with the new Pope at the Holy See.

Gemma Hickey, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the Pope's decision to engage with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to addressing the problem.

Global Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed

The group is pushing for a worldwide strict approach that would defrock any clergy member who confesses to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This approach has been implemented in the US.

The Pontiff recognized that there is "resistance in some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to the representative.

"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey remarked.

Inherited Issue

The current pontiff, who took the role in spring, has taken on this longstanding issue that has plagued the Church for decades.

Earlier attempts to address the situation included an unprecedented summit on paedophilia within the Church and revisions to canon law to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.

Personal Link

For Hickey, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the policy is personal. The Canadian advocate revealed they were abused by a priest who was later moved between different parishes.

"We trust this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we want to work with him," Hickey stated. "We have the common objective, we want to end abuse by religious officials."

Significant Encounter

Seven members of the coalition, which includes survivors and advocates from more than 30 nations, met with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.

The discussion, originally scheduled for a brief period, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to Hickey.

The Pope was characterized as "very understanding" when listening to the account of a woman victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.

They added the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal story and appeared "very humble, funny, and approachable."

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

Church Regulations Reforms

The group is advocating that changes to canon law will enable the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.

They have consulted experts and gathered documents that they will present to Pope Leo.

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

Responsibility Highlighted

A recently released Vatican-commissioned report emphasized the "importance of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or dismissal of religious officials or staff in cases of misconduct or failure to act."

The document also noted that victims consistently emphasized the "urgent need for bishops and senior officials to be made responsible for inaction and concealment."

Path Ahead

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

After the encounter, Hickey voiced optimism for progress.

"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the conclusion, coming together and building a relationship and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a step in the correct path," Hickey stated.

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