Experienced lawyers volunteer their time to offer free legal consulting, reconciliation, and resolution services to any adult in the community.
Greerty, who recently retired from his legal practice in Martinez, California, said the idea started while he was earning his master's degree in theological studies from the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley.
"My professor, Sister Marianne Farina, asked me to do a project which would be consistent with my job," Greerty said.
That project became the Pope Francis Legal Clinic, and in less than two years, others helped to make his idea a reality.
Nico Herrera, another attorney in the diocese, helped co-found the clinic. The Order of Malta, which runs a health clinic on the cathedral grounds, made space available for the new endeavor with the help of Tony Sanchez Corea, a member of the board. Bishop Michael C. Barber embraced the idea and had the clinic's name in mind.
"I want this to be called the Pope Francis Legal Clinic," the bishop told Greerty.