BOSTON -- Boston Cardinal Bernard Law arrived in Dallas Wednesday for the start of a conference of U.S. Catholic bishops even as yet another lawsuit was filed against him at home, this from an alleged victim who claims Law ignored abuse allegations decades before he came to Boston.

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At the meeting, the bishops will be drafting a new policy on how the U.S. Catholic church will deal with cases of sex abuse by priests in the future, following months of controversy and accusations by alleged abuse victims.

Since January, when the crisis began with the case of a pedophile priest in Boston, at least 250 of the nation's 46,000 priests have resigned or been suspended over sexual misconduct claims. Four bishops also have resigned, but none have left their post because they mishandled abusive clergy.

NewsCenter 5's Gail Huff reported that on the first day of their meeting, the bishops heard from victims who want clergy who covered up abuse cases disciplined. That might include Law, who has been accused of moving priests from parish to parish even though he was aware that they had been accused of molesting children.

The latest lawsuit alleges that Law transferred Mississippi priest George Broussard to a new parish in the 1970s even though he knew the priest had been accused of molesting three brothers, all of them under the age of 10.

The brothers filed a $39 million lawsuit naming the clergyman and the Diocese of Jackson, including Bishop William Houck and the Vicar General at the time, Cardinal Law.

The brothers claim the abuse continued after the allegations were reported to Law.

As the historic conference officially opens on Thursday, Law and 300 other bishops will hear from more alleged abuse victims, experts who work with them, and prominent lay Catholics.

"Ultimately there is no place in the priesthood for anyone who would offend a child and damage him through the rest of his life," said Mark Serrano, 38, a victim who told the bishops he was raped by a priest at age 12. He was one of 20 victims who reported to a committee of 20 bishops Wednesday.

Serrano insisted that cardinals and bishops should be "fired or defrocked" if they failed to protect youths.

The committee that heard from victims will meet with the rest of the conference bishops Thursday. They are still reeling from a Dallas Morning News report that showed that of the 285 bishops attending the conference, 111 of them have allowed priests accused of abuse to continue to work in parishes.

"It's also about accountability and leadership. This is about a crisis in leadership," said Peter Isley, a victims' advocate.

Law was invited to a meeting with victims, but did not attend.

The drafting committee, led by Archbishop Harry Flynn of St. Paul and Minneapolis, worked late into Wednesday night on the policy and amendments from bishops, 107 pages worth. The committee is supposed to release its conclusions Thursday.

Flynn's committee only issued its original draft for discussion June 4, an extremely tight time frame for an important Catholic policy statement.

The bishops will spend Thursday and Friday working on the policy, which is intended to be binding across the troubled American church.

All of the nearly 400 retired and active bishops in the United States are invited to this week's conference, but only the active prelates -- who number around 285 -- can vote on the policy.

Thursday afternoon the bishops take up the reform proposals behind closed doors and could continue the talks into the evening. The formal debate and action Friday will be open to media coverage.