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Individuals who endured sexual abuse by church officials have voiced renewed hope after their initial meeting with the new Pope at the Vatican.

The board president, who leads the anti-abuse organization, commented that the pontiff's decision to meet with them so early in his papacy spoke volumes about his dedication to addressing the problem.

Global Strict Policy Pushed

The group is advocating for a global strict approach that would defrock any priest who admits to or is proven of sexually abusing a child. This policy has been implemented in the US.

The Pontiff acknowledged that there is "resistance in some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey.

"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," Hickey remarked.

Legacy Issue

The new Pope, who took the position in spring, has taken on this longstanding problem that has haunted the Church for many years.

Previous efforts to resolve the situation included an unprecedented meeting on child abuse within the institution and changes to church laws to clearly outlaw sexual abuse.

Deeply Felt Link

For Hickey, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the policy is deeply meaningful. The Canadian advocate revealed they were abused by a clergy member who was later transferred between various churches.

"We trust this will set the tone for his leadership, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey stated. "We have the common objective, we want to eliminate clergy abuse."

Historic Encounter

Multiple representatives of the coalition, which includes victims and advocates from over thirty nations, engaged with the Pope in his Vatican office.

The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a full hour, during which the religious leader "mostly listened to us," according to the representative.

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 Canada.

They added the leader was "compassionate" about their personal story and appeared "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth."

"Victims have consistently sought a seat at the table and I didn't perceive like he was giving us lip service," they commented. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and receptive and keen to collaborate with us."

Church Regulations Changes

The organization is hoping that revisions to canon law will enable the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.

They have spoken with specialists and gathered materials that they will submit to the pontiff.

"He appeared interested in looking at it," Hickey remarked.

Accountability Highlighted

A recent church-ordered document emphasized the "necessity of a streamlined protocol for the stepping down and/or removal of religious officials or staff in cases of abuse or negligence."

The document also pointed out that victims consistently emphasized the "urgent need for church leaders and senior officials to be made responsible for inaction and cover-up."

Moving Forward

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

After the meeting, they 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 building a relationship and persisting to strengthen that bond is a move in the right direction," they commented.

They concluded that they shared with the pontiff: "Just because it's a difficult period, I feel like we can alter how the story ends - he valued that."