🔗 Share this article Victims of Catholic Religious Sexual Abuse Express Hope After Meeting with the Pontiff End Clergy Abuse Global board members and victims pose in Vatican Square following the encounter with the Pontiff People who endured abuse by church officials have voiced fresh optimism following their initial encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See. The board president, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the Pope's decision to meet with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his dedication to tackling the problem. Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed The group is pushing for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any priest who confesses to or is found guilty of abusing a child. This approach has already been adopted in the United States. The Pontiff recognized that there is "resistance in certain regions of the globe" to this initiative, according to the representative. "Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is resistance," they stated. Inherited Challenge The current pontiff, who took the position in spring, has taken on this longstanding problem that has plagued the Church for decades. Earlier attempts to resolve the problem included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the Church and revisions to church laws to clearly outlaw sexual abuse. Deeply Felt Link For the representative, who prefers they/them pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the measure is deeply meaningful. The Canadian activist revealed they were victimized by a priest who was later moved between various churches. "Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we aim to collaborate with him," Hickey stated. "We have the common objective, we want to end clergy abuse." Significant Meeting Multiple members of the organization, which includes victims and supporters from over thirty nations, met with the Pope in his Vatican office. The discussion, initially planned for a brief period, lasted to a full hour, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to the representative. The pontiff was described as "quite empathetic" when listening to the account of a woman victimized at a church-run institution for native youth in Canada. Hickey noted the Pope was "compassionate" about their own story and appeared "modest, humorous, and very down to earth." "Survivors have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," Hickey commented. "I felt like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and keen to work with us." The Pontiff celebrates Mass in Vatican City on recently Church Regulations Changes The organization is hoping that changes to canon law will facilitate the adoption of the strict approach worldwide. They have spoken with experts and compiled documents that they will submit to the pontiff. "He seemed engaged in looking at it," Hickey noted. Responsibility Highlighted A recently released Vatican-commissioned document emphasized the "importance of a efficient process for the resignation and/or removal of religious officials or personnel in cases of abuse or failure to act." The document also pointed out that victims consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up." Moving Forward Hickey revealed they told the Pope at the beginning of their discussion: "This is as much a risk for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us." After the meeting, Hickey expressed hope for future change. "We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, uniting and establishing a connection and persisting to strengthen that bond is a move in the right direction," they stated. They added that they told with the pontiff: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can change how the narrative ends - he appreciated that."