Thousands of Catechism students will now have safety training on how to spot abuse
Twenty years after the establishment of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, the Archdiocese of Newark remains firm in its commitment to preventing and reporting abuse and creating safe environments within its parishes and schools. The Charter, established in 2002 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), is a comprehensive set of procedures for addressing allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy. The Charter includes guidelines for reconciliation, healing, accountability, and prevention of future abuse.
Now the Archdiocese of Newark is expanding its protection of the faithful training programs to the approximately 60,500 public school children who attend faith formation programs within Bergen, Hudson, Union, and Essex counties. This is in addition to the 22,000 Catholic school students already served by the training program.
Millions of children and adults in the Church have been trained to spot abuse since the establishment of the Charter in 2022, according to the USCCB. Allegations are now reported directly to law enforcement. Background checks for anyone working within the Catholic Church with children and the vulnerable are now the norm.
In a statement marking the anniversary, Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the USCCB, said: “In these 20 years, we have greatly benefited from listening to and working with survivors of abuse. We are grateful for their courage in sharing their stories and for helping the Church strive to create a culture of protection and healing. Their witness has led directly to meaningful reform in the Church and to a greater awareness of sexual abuse in the wider world. For past survivors and future children, it is imperative that we remain vigilant.”
However, he cautioned, it is not a “time of celebration, but a time of continued vigilance and determination.”
The Archdiocese of Newark’s Department for the Protection of the Faithful facilitates training for all adults and youth on how to spot, prevent, and respond to abuse. Its training program for youth consists of six comprehensive, age-appropriate lessons delivered over three years, focusing on teaching boundaries and safety to children.
Depending on the school’s faith formation program, students receive two 40-minute lessons per year or one 90-minute lesson. Traditionally, this program has served students in grades K-12 in Archdiocesan Catholic schools.
While the Archdiocese plans to continue this mandatory training for Catholic school students, the program will expand to serve children in all parish faith formation programs, grades K-8, across the Archdiocese. The training will now be available to approximately 60,500 additional children in grades K-8, according to Karen Clark, Director of the Department for the Protection of the Faithful.
“Kids who are knowledgeable about protection are safer,” Clark said. “We teach them age-appropriate lessons about setting boundaries and affirming their own rights. Our goal is to keep kids as safe as possible and to teach them to communicate with safe adults around them when they are uncomfortable.”
Schools and parishes across the Archdiocese can choose from three training options: Virtus’s “Empowering God’s Children” program, RCL Benzinger’s “Family Life curriculum,” or the Loyola Press “Safe and Sacred Program.”
While parents can opt out of in-person training and receive training materials at home to teach their children, families are strongly encouraged to participate in these sessions. “As each school and catechetical year begins, little by little, we are renewing the in-person experience that optimal learning requires,” said Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Newark’s Archbishop, in his annual letter regarding the Protection of Children and Young People. “Our children, though, still bear the effects that their increased online presence has created. It is becoming more imperative that we share with our youth how to protect themselves in both in-person and online relationships.” He stated that the nearly 20-year-old archdiocesan training programs “continue to represent the commitment that we have made to protect the children in our care from sexual abuse and exploitation, and to become advocates for their safety.”
Featured photo: Public school children who attend faith formation will now have access to protection of the faithful training programs.
