Catholic bishops from around the world are meeting at the Vatican to talk about protecting children from sexual abuse by priests.
Pope Francis summoned nearly 200 bishops from around the world to the Vatican for a summit called Protection of Minors in the Church.
The goal of the summit is not only to prevent further sexual abuse of children, but to establish guidelines for how cases of abuse are reported and handled by bishops.
Many survivors have blamed the church for protecting abusers instead of their victims. Survivors of church sex abuse are expected to speak during the conference in Rome.
In November, bishops met here in Baltimore to discuss a code of conduct for church leaders, but the pope asked them to hold off until now. The delay was a disappointment to survivors such as David Lorenz, the Maryland director of SNAP, The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.
Some survivors remain skeptical about how the Vatican will address the cover ups and greater transparency.
The Baltimore Archbishop announced new policies which includes a code of conduct for priests to sign an online abuse reporting system and an independent review board to handle cases of abuse with law enforcement.
