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People who experienced sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have expressed fresh optimism after their first meeting with Pope Leo at the Vatican.

Gemma Hickey, who leads Ending Clergy Abuse, stated that the pontiff's choice to meet with them so early in his leadership spoke volumes about his dedication to addressing the issue.

Worldwide Strict Approach Advocated

The group is advocating for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any priest who admits to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a minor. This policy has been implemented in the United States.

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

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

Inherited Challenge

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

Previous efforts to resolve the problem included an unprecedented summit on child abuse within the institution and changes to canon law to clearly outlaw abuse.

Personal Connection

For Hickey, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for global implementation of the measure is personal. The Canadian advocate revealed they were victimized by a priest who was subsequently transferred between different parishes.

"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 want to end abuse by religious officials."

Significant Meeting

Seven representatives of the coalition, which includes survivors and advocates from more than 30 countries, met with the Pope in his Vatican office.

The meeting, initially planned for a brief period, extended to a full hour, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.

The pontiff was described as "quite empathetic" when listening to the account of a female survivor abused at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.

They noted the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal experience and appeared "modest, funny, and very down to earth."

"Victims have consistently sought a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," they commented. "I believed like he was sincere, realistic, and receptive and eager to collaborate with us."

Church Regulations Changes

The group is advocating that changes to church regulations will facilitate the implementation of the strict approach globally.

They have consulted specialists and gathered documents that they plan to submit to the pontiff.

"He appeared engaged in looking at it," Hickey noted.

Accountability Highlighted

A recent church-ordered report highlighted the "importance of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or removal of religious officials or personnel in cases of abuse or negligence."

The report also noted that survivors consistently emphasized the "critical requirement for church leaders and major superiors to be made responsible for inaction and cover-up."

Path Ahead

Hickey revealed they informed the Pope at the beginning of their discussion: "This is as much a risk for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."

After the meeting, Hickey expressed optimism for progress.

"We understand 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 relationship is a step in the right direction," Hickey commented.

Hickey added that they told with the pontiff: "Even though it's a difficult period, I believe like we can change how the narrative ends - he valued that."