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People who endured abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope following their initial encounter with the new Pope at the Holy See.

The board president, who leads the anti-abuse organization, stated that the Pope's choice to engage with them so soon in his leadership spoke volumes about his commitment to tackling the problem.

Global Zero-Tolerance Policy Advocated

The organization is advocating for a global zero-tolerance policy that would defrock any priest who confesses to or is proven of abusing a child. This policy has already been adopted in the US.

The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "opposition in some parts of the globe" to this initiative, according to the representative.

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

Inherited Challenge

The new Pope, who assumed the position in spring, has taken on this longstanding issue that has haunted the Church for decades.

Earlier attempts to address the situation included an unprecedented summit on paedophilia within the Church and revisions to church laws to explicitly criminalize abuse.

Deeply Felt Connection

For the representative, who uses they/them pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the policy is deeply meaningful. The North American activist revealed they were abused by a clergy member who was later moved between various churches.

"Hopefully this will establish the direction for his leadership, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey expressed. "We have the common objective, we want to eliminate abuse by religious officials."

Significant Meeting

Seven members of the coalition, which includes survivors and supporters from over thirty countries, engaged with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.

The discussion, initially planned for a brief period, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the religious leader "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.

The Pope was characterized as "very understanding" when hearing the account of a woman victimized at a Catholic residential school for native youth in North America.

Hickey added the Pope was "tender" about their own experience and seemed "very humble, funny, and very down to earth."

"Survivors have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't perceive like he was making empty promises," they stated. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and keen to collaborate with us."

Church Regulations Reforms

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

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

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

Responsibility Emphasized

A recently released church-ordered document emphasized the "importance of a streamlined protocol for the resignation and/or removal of religious officials or staff in cases of misconduct or negligence."

The document also noted that survivors repeatedly stressed the "urgent need for bishops and senior officials to be made responsible for negligence and cover-up."

Path Ahead

Hickey shared they informed 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."

Following the meeting, they voiced optimism for progress.

"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, uniting and building a relationship and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a step in the correct path," they stated.

They added that they shared with the pontiff: "Just because it's a dark chapter, I believe like we can alter how the story concludes - he valued that."