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Individuals who endured sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have voiced renewed hope following their initial meeting with the new Pope at the Holy See.

Gemma Hickey, who leads the anti-abuse organization, stated that the Pope's decision to engage with them so soon in his leadership spoke volumes about his commitment to addressing the problem.

Global Zero-Tolerance Policy Advocated

The group is advocating for a global strict approach that would permanently remove any clergy member who confesses to or is proven of sexually abusing a minor. This policy has already been adopted in the US.

The Pontiff recognized that there is "resistance in certain regions of the globe" to this initiative, according to Hickey.

"We were all being realistic when we recognized that there is resistance," they remarked.

Legacy Issue

The current pontiff, who assumed the position in spring, has taken on this persistent issue that has haunted the Catholic Church for many years.

Previous efforts to address the situation included an unprecedented meeting on paedophilia within the Church and changes to canon law to clearly outlaw abuse.

Personal Link

For the representative, who prefers they/them pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the measure is deeply meaningful. The North American advocate revealed they were victimized by a priest who was subsequently transferred between various churches.

"We trust this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we aim to collaborate with him," Hickey stated. "We have the same goal, we want to end abuse by religious officials."

Significant Meeting

Seven members of the coalition, which includes victims and supporters from more than 30 nations, met with the Pope in his Vatican office.

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

The Pope was characterized as "very understanding" when hearing 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 story and appeared "very humble, humorous, and approachable."

"Victims have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," they commented. "I felt like he was sincere, realistic, and very open and eager to collaborate with us."

Canon Law Changes

The organization is advocating that changes to church regulations will enable the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.

They have spoken with experts and compiled documents that they plan to submit to the pontiff.

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

Responsibility Highlighted

A recent church-ordered report emphasized the "importance of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or dismissal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of misconduct or negligence."

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

Moving Forward

Hickey revealed they told the pontiff at the beginning of their discussion: "This represents as much a risk for him to engage in a conversation as it was for us."

Following the meeting, they voiced hope for progress.

"We realise it's not something that's going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day, coming together and building a relationship and persisting to strengthen that bond is a step in the right direction," Hickey commented.

Hickey concluded that they shared with the pontiff: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I feel like we can change how the story ends - he valued that."