Boston ? Members of a task force formed by Cardinal Bernard Law pledged at their first meeting Saturday to produce a public report on ways to protect children from sexual abuse by priests.

Law formed the Cardinal’s Commission for the Protection of Children and selected its 15 members after it was revealed that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston had transferred a priest accused of pedophilia from parish to parish.

“There can be and there has to be improvement,” said task force chairwoman Maureen Bateman. “Clearly what was in place was not sufficient.”

The panel will examine the archdiocese’s abuse policies and advise on matters ranging from psychological screening of candidates for the priesthood to helping victims and families.

Members include eight women and seven men  none of them in the clergy  from the fields of education, medicine, psychology, and law. Several have expertise in child abuse.

Members who conducted news conference after Saturday’s meeting said they would operate autonomously from the archdiocese.

Law was invited to portions of the meeting, which took place at his residence in Brighton.

No deadline was set for the completion of the report.

Law announced the panel Jan. 24, the same day he established a “zero tolerance” policy on sexual abuse.

The announcement came after thousands of documents were released detailing how church leaders continued to support the former Rev. John Geoghan even after warnings from doctors and allegations of sexual abuse of children.