Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,

As we continue our dissemination of information regarding the uncomfortable subject of sexual abuse and what to do about it, we pick up from the article last week addressing questions parents often have regarding this topic.  Knowledge and information empower us to be better prepared to act when something happens in our lives.  Know that even one incident of sexual abuse is unacceptable and is not condoned in anyway by the Diocese of Lafayette.  

Why do I have to be trained? I did not do anything wrong, this is a clergy problem. 

Child sexual abuse is a widespread societal problem, not a Catholic clergy problem. The more people who are trained to recognize the warning signs of an offender, the safer our children are. In the aftermath of the clergy scandal, the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People requires the Church to train both adults and children to prevent child sexual abuse. This is not because the Church thinks all adults are the problem. It is because the solution to preventing child sexual abuse depends on caring adults knowing what to do.

My children are too young to hear this. Aren’t you destroying the ‘innocent period’ of their development? 

Teaching children about boundaries and safe touches is not sex education. There are many safety issues we teach children: bike safety, water safety, fire prevention, driver’s training, etc. Personal safety programs should have age appropriate lessons that give children the skills they need to protect themselves without frightening them. Keeping children unaware of the dangers around them does not keep them safe. Predators count on children not knowing what to do.

I believe morality should be taught in the home, not in school. Does my child have to attend these training classes? 

You are right, morality is best taught in the home, but this is personal safety training, not morality class and not sex education. Catholic moral theology compels us to keep children safe. Parents are the primary educators of their children, and those who do not want their children to participate in the school/religious education portion of the training may opt out. They should still receive the parent portion of the training for assistance in how to teach their children to be safe.

We will continue this information in next week’s bulletin.

Blessings,

Fr. David