Pope Leo XIV held his first meeting Monday with a group of survivors of sexual abuse by priests, with one participant describing it as a "free-flowing" discussion about what the Church should do.

"Our goal was to establish a relationship with him and to get a commitment to ongoing discussion, and he was open to both," Tim Law, co-founder of the US-based Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA), told AFP afterwards.

The meeting, held with advocates representing survivors of clergy abuse from more than 30 countries, was scheduled for 20 minutes but lasted an hour, he said.

The group asked Pope Leo for the Vatican to extend a "zero tolerance" rule on abuse already adopted in the United States to the rest of the Church.

Under a charter established by US bishops, a Catholic priest or deacon is permanently

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