Last week, Bishop Robert McElroy of the Diocese of San Diego called together more than 2,500 priests, teachers and staff to talk about the sexual abuse of children.
This follows a directive Pope Francis issued in May, which made it mandatory to report the sexual abuse of minors to the church, something that infuriated survivors.
McElroy says everyone is now required to report any suspected abuse. He charged a task force with raising awareness and restricted employees from communicating privately with minors, including social media.
In a statement on its website, the Survivors Network of Those Abused By Priests, or SNAP, asked Bishop McElroy to encourage everyone in the diocese to share any information about clergy sex crimes or cover-ups directly with law enforcement and the State Attorney General’s office.
There wasn't this kind of awareness in the Catholic Church when Joey Piscitelli was growing up. Today, he’s is a leader with SNAP in Northern California. But back in 1969, he was a freshman at Salesian High School in Richmond, part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland.