Bishop John Michael’s letter to the clergy – child and youth protection
July 14, 2010
To: Diocesan clergy
From: Most Rev. John Michael Botean
RE: child protection reminders
Reverend and dear brothers in Christ,
It is always very important to safeguard the children and the young people who represent the future of the church and for that I am asking you to always pay particular attention to the monthly issues of the on-line safe environment training that all of us receive. That represents our continuous training and attention to the issue of child and youth protection.
Goes without saying that when you have volunteers that are working close with your catechists or you have new catechists in your programs a criminal background check has to be obtained before the person will work with the children. Also that person has to get into one of the local safe environment training programs, often run by the local Roman Catholic Dioceses in your areas, which give them the necessary training for safety measures when being in the company of the children teaching them.
Very Rev. Fr. Andre Matthews, the coordinator of our program in the Diocese is always asking you to comply and brings to your attention what we need to do on the major requirements by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Charter (Art. 2) – the reporting procedure that needs to be followed in a case of an abuse. This is on our website should be regularly posted in your bulletins and made available to the people.
The intent of this letter is to bring to your attention the importance that the Diocesan office and particularly myself give to the Protection of Children and Young Adults. I would like to thank you in advance for paying particular attention to Fr. Andre’s requests.
Assuring you of my prayers and best wishes, I remain
Fraternally yours in Christ God,
Most Rev. John Michael Botean
Bishop
Romanian Catholic Diocese of Canton
XJMB/om