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Individuals who experienced abuse by church officials have voiced fresh optimism after their initial encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.

Gemma Hickey, who leads the anti-abuse organization, stated that the pontiff's choice to engage with them so early in his leadership spoke volumes about his dedication to tackling the issue.

Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed

The group is advocating for a global zero-tolerance policy that would permanently remove any priest who confesses to or is found guilty of sexually abusing a child. This approach has been implemented in the US.

The Pontiff 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 stated.

Legacy Issue

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

Previous efforts to address the problem included an historic summit on paedophilia within the Church and revisions to canon law to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse.

Deeply Felt Connection

For the representative, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the campaign for worldwide adoption of the policy is deeply meaningful. The North American 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," they stated. "Both sides share the common objective, we seek to eliminate abuse by religious officials."

Significant Meeting

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

The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "mostly listened to us," according to Hickey.

The Pope was characterized as "quite empathetic" when listening to the story of a woman abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.

They added the leader was "tender" about their own experience and appeared "very humble, funny, and approachable."

"Survivors have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," they commented. "I believed like he was sincere, realistic, and receptive and eager to work with us."

Church Regulations Reforms

The group is hoping that revisions to church regulations will facilitate the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy globally.

They have spoken with specialists and gathered documents that they plan to present to Pope Leo.

"He appeared interested in reviewing it," Hickey remarked.

Accountability Emphasized

A recently released church-ordered document emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the resignation and/or dismissal of religious officials or personnel in cases of misconduct or negligence."

The document also pointed out that survivors repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for bishops and major superiors to be held accountable for negligence and cover-up."

Path Ahead

The representative shared they told the pontiff at the beginning of their discussion: "This is as much a challenge for him to engage in a dialogue as it was for us."

After the meeting, Hickey voiced hope for future change.

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

Hickey concluded that they shared with Pope Leo: "Even though it's a difficult period, I feel like we can alter how the story concludes - he appreciated that."