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Individuals who endured sexual abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope after their initial meeting with Pope Leo at the Holy See.

Gemma Hickey, who leads the anti-abuse organization, commented that the pontiff's decision to meet with them so soon in his papacy sent a strong message about his commitment to tackling the problem.

Global Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed

The group is pushing for a global strict approach that would defrock any clergy member who admits to or is found guilty of abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the US.

The Pope recognized that there is "opposition in certain regions of the world" to this proposal, according to Hickey.

"Everyone was practical when we recognized that there is pushback," they stated.

Legacy Issue

The new Pope, who took the position in spring, has inherited this longstanding problem that has haunted the Church for many years.

Earlier attempts to resolve the problem included an unprecedented summit on child abuse within the institution and revisions to church laws to clearly outlaw abuse.

Deeply Felt Link

For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the policy is deeply meaningful. The North American advocate revealed they were victimized by a clergy member who was later transferred between various churches.

"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey stated. "Both sides share the same goal, we seek to eliminate abuse by religious officials."

Significant Meeting

Multiple representatives of the coalition, which includes survivors and supporters from over thirty nations, met with the Pontiff in his official residence.

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 hearing the account of a female survivor abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.

They added the leader was "tender" about their own experience and seemed "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth."

"Victims have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," they stated. "I believed like he was sincere, practical, and very open and keen to work with us."

Canon Law Reforms

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

They have spoken with specialists and compiled documents that they will present to the pontiff.

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

Responsibility Highlighted

A recent Vatican-commissioned report emphasized the "importance of a efficient process for the resignation and/or removal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of misconduct or negligence."

The report also pointed out that victims repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for bishops and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and concealment."

Path Ahead

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

After the encounter, they expressed optimism for future change.

"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, uniting and building a connection and continuing to build that bond is a move in the right direction," they commented.

They added that they told with the pontiff: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can change how the story concludes - he appreciated that."