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Individuals who experienced sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have voiced renewed hope following their initial encounter with Pope Leo at the Vatican.

Gemma Hickey, heading the anti-abuse organization, stated that the pontiff's decision to engage with them so soon in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to tackling the issue.

Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Approach Advocated

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

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

"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is pushback," Hickey stated.

Legacy Challenge

The new Pope, who took the role in spring, has taken on this longstanding issue that has plagued the Catholic Church for many years.

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

Deeply Felt Link

For the representative, who uses they/them pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the measure is personal. The Canadian advocate revealed they were abused by a clergy member who was subsequently moved between various churches.

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

Significant Encounter

Multiple members of the coalition, which includes survivors and supporters from over thirty nations, engaged with the Pope in his official residence.

The meeting, originally scheduled for a brief period, lasted to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.

The Pope was described as "very understanding" when hearing the story of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.

Hickey added the leader was "tender" about their personal experience and seemed "very humble, funny, and approachable."

"Victims have consistently sought a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," Hickey stated. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."

Church Regulations Changes

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

They have consulted specialists and compiled documents that they will present to Pope Leo.

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

Responsibility Highlighted

A recently released Vatican-commissioned document highlighted the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or removal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of abuse or failure to act."

The report also noted that victims repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for bishops and senior officials to be held accountable for negligence and cover-up."

Moving Forward

The representative revealed they informed the Pope at the start of their meeting: "This is as much a risk for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."

Following the meeting, Hickey voiced hope for progress.

"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 persisting to strengthen that relationship is a move in the right direction," Hickey commented.

They added that they told with the pontiff: "Even though it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can change how the narrative ends - he valued that."