Pope, Cardinal DiNardo and church leaders meet to discuss sex abuse

ROME, Italy (KTRK) -- Church leaders are talking about this week's summit on the priest sex abuse scandal. The first of its kind summit begins Thursday in Rome.

Church leaders spent about 90 minutes talking and taking questions from reporters on Monday.

The Archbishop from Malta says the third day of the summit will focus on transparency. He says what will make the church free is confronting the facts and the truth about priests who abuse children.

"The first immediate response is to deny. We need to go away from that," he said.

Pope Francis called for this week's summit. Houston Cardinal Daniel DiNardo will be among those talking with the pontiff.

Eyewitness News anchor Tom Koch is headed to Rome to cover the summit. His live reports begin Wednesday morning.

You can find the list of all the Galveston-Houston priests accused here.