A clergy Safe Environment Learning Day brought together priests from across the diocese to listen to experts in child protection, victim assistance, human trafficking, online safety and ministry.
The diocesan Safe Environment Office hosted the event, held at Sunbury St. John Neumann Church, to equip clergy to be leaders in child protection and safety.
“Safe Environment is not a one-time training—it is an ongoing commitment,” said Meredith Gaul, the diocese’s Safe Environment Office manager. “Our clergy already participate in ongoing formation, and this learning day builds on that foundation by providing focused education on current and emerging issues.
“We want our priests and deacons to leave better informed and better equipped to serve and protect the people entrusted to their care.”
Speakers included Molly Fara, associate director for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection; Sister Sally Duffy, SC (Sisters of Charity) from the Alliance to End Human Trafficking; David Frattare, statewide commander for Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force; and Crispin Ketelhut Montelione, creative director of training and content development for VIRTUS Programs.
“Hearing directly from professionals working in these areas gives our clergy practical knowledge and resources they can bring back to the communities they serve,” Gaul said.
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Frattare’s work focuses on investigating and preventing technology-facilitated crimes involving the exploitation of children. The ICAC task force receives more than 43,000 cyber tips a year from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
“Most of the problems are on social media,” he said, “and it’s not the social media that parents want their kids to stay away from—it’s the most popular social media sites, so it’s the Instagrams, it’s the TikToks, it’s the Snapchats, it’s the Meta platforms.
“Unfortunately, a lot of it is child sexual abuse material—98 percent of what we investigate is material involving children, images or videos that’s either being possessed by an individual or shared by an individual.
“We’re dealing with individuals who know they can go online, possess this material and also obtain it from new victims. And so, we’re seeing kids throughout Ohio, throughout the United States being victimized on a daily basis through social media.”
The ICAC task force provides outreach to parents and community members, offering an overview of trends and current problems. The force observes a divide between parents’ and children’s knowledge of social media and works to lessen the divide through awareness and education.
“We have a front-row seat to, really, the destruction of society when it comes to social media and what people are capable of when it comes to abusing or enticing or exploiting children online,” Frattare said.
“We know that clergy, teachers, folks … have just as much of an important role as … law enforcement. They’re going to be able to see kids, interact with kids a lot more than we will as law enforcement officers.”
Frattare encouraged parents to report incidents to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children‘s cyber tipline.
He described the tipline as one of the best mechanisms parents can use, explaining that “it’s not if, but when something (will) happen to their child or grandchild or someone in their care.”
Sister Sally shared statistics on human trafficking, which is defined as the force, fraud or coercion of a person for the purpose of debt bondage, involuntary servitude, slavery and commercial sex acts.
Ohio ranks eighth in the United States, she shared, for identified human trafficking cases. The Buckeye State is ranked fifth in the nation for calls reported to the human trafficking hotline, which, Sister Sally surmised, is largely related to Ohio’s interstates.
She provided statistics that the number of victims could be up to more than 30 times what is reported.
Between 26 to 47 percent of victims are sold by a parent, legal guardian or relative, she added. Most trafficking occurs online.
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At the ecclesial level, the USCCB employs the Essential Norms for Diocesan/Eparchial Policies Dealing with Allegations of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Priests or Deacons. It also abides by the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.
The charter, created in 2002, addresses the response to allegations, care for victims, safeguarding, and transparency and accountability. It is a “promise from the bishops,” Fara said. “They are vowing, they are committed to implementing the charter.”
The Charter, unlike the Essential Norms, is not canon law. It is a complementary document to the Essential Norms, which has been given recognition by the Holy See and serves as law for the Church in the United States.
“We need to be aware of what’s going on in the community and society and to be vigilant about safeguarding – and to make it part of the culture,” Fara encouraged. “It’s not a standalone; this needs to be part of every aspect of what we do.”
The VIRTUS program equips parishes, schools and individuals to create safe environments and protect vulnerable children.
The USCCB Charter requires every U.S. diocese to provide safe environment training. Many parishes across the nation, including in the Columbus diocese, use VIRTUS’ training programs.
Montelione encouraged clergy to think about the effect of their ministry when creating safe environments in their parishes.
“They have more power and more spiritual authority because of how they represent God in the Church,” she explained. “And so, because of that power differential, they have greater responsibility to know how to manage these efforts to protect children.
“Priests are incredibly important to the livelihood of the parishes and wellbeing of children. When priests—and pastors in particular—are involved in articulating the need and rationale for safe environment measures–both to their members involved in ministry along with delivering the message to everyone else in the pews–we can all cultivate a stronger culture of safety.”