SAFE ENVIRONMENTS  First in a series of articles

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Introduction and Rationale

More than two years have passed already since the clergy abuse scandal exploded onto the life of the

Church. As we remember from that sad and frightening time, the scandal arose not just from the acts of abuse themselves; even more shocking were the actions of bishops and others in positions of high responsibility to minimize, cover up and - by way of continued re-assignments in ministry - to leave the door open for even more acts of abuse. As a result, many Catholics have experienced a deep spiritual suffering, as well as anger and mistrust of the Church and its ministers, to a degree unprecedented in the modem history of the Church.

In all fairness, we must note the devastating effect of all this also upon those of the clergy who are dedicated and faithful ministers of God's people; they have been left suspect in the eyes of many and to varying degrees demoralized in their own lives and ministry, especially as they witness allegations unfold against priests who have been their seminary classmates, friends and co-workers.

Let us hasten to note that sexual abuse is not just a "clergy" problem. Teachers, coaches, day care workers school volunteers, maintenance people, people from every occupation and walk of life - anyone with regular access to children and young people - have misused the trust of young people arid their families in order to gain access to potential victims and engage in such reprehensible conduct. Unfortunately and maybe even understandably, incidents in those groups often have not been publicized in the same manner as the scandal in the Church.

At this point in the life of the Church, as ,the scandalous headlines seem to appear less frequently or prominently, we might be tempted to think: "No news is good news" or "Out of sight, out of mind." The worst of the news may well be past; the real work has just begun.

The only safeguard: Safe Environments

Some may call it unrealistic to suggest that we could ever be absolutely 100% certain that we will be able to prevent future acts' of abuse. Maybe so. HOWEVER, we CAN and MUST work TOGETHER to create an environment in which the predator would feel too great a risk of detection in attempting to approach a potential victim. In other words, it is and must always be our Goal: that all Catholic parishes, schools and institutions will in fact be - and will be known to be - places where all people will be safe from abuse of any and every kind - particularly children, young people and anyone else who might be particularly vulnerable to abuse. The "known to be" reputation part is important - not only do we want people of all ages to know that they can feel safe from the threat of abuse when they come to a Catholic setting, we want predators to know' that Catholic institutions will he "dangerous" places for them because everyone is sharing the responsibility of watching out for one another. .

to be continued...