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People who endured abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope following their initial meeting with the new Pope at the Vatican.

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

Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Advocated

The organization is advocating for a global zero-tolerance policy that would defrock any clergy member who admits to or is proven of abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the US.

The Pope recognized that there is "opposition in some parts of the globe" to this proposal, according to the representative.

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

Inherited Challenge

The new Pope, who took the position in May, has taken on this longstanding issue that has plagued the Church for decades.

Previous efforts to address the problem included an unprecedented summit on child abuse within the institution and changes to church laws to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.

Deeply Felt Connection

For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign 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.

"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we aim to work with him," Hickey expressed. "We have the same goal, we want to end clergy abuse."

Significant Encounter

Multiple members of the organization, which includes victims and advocates from over thirty nations, engaged with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.

The meeting, initially planned for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.

The pontiff was described as "quite empathetic" when listening to the story of a female survivor victimized at a church-run institution for native youth in Canada.

They noted the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal story and seemed "modest, funny, and approachable."

"Survivors have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was giving us lip service," they commented. "I believed like he was genuine, practical, and receptive and eager to collaborate with us."

Canon Law Changes

The organization is advocating that changes to canon law will enable the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy globally.

They have consulted experts and gathered materials that they plan to submit to the pontiff.

"He seemed interested in looking at it," they noted.

Accountability Emphasized

A recent 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 consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for bishops and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."

Path Ahead

The representative revealed they informed the pontiff at the beginning of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."

After the encounter, they expressed hope for future change.

"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the conclusion, coming together and establishing a connection and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a step in the right direction," they commented.

Hickey added that they shared with the pontiff: "Just because it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the narrative ends - he valued that."