“Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these (Mt. 19: 14).” The Church is where we encounter Christ, where we experience his healing, his mercy, his love. In order for this encounter to happen, though, the Church must remain a safe environment, a place where people are free to encounter the Lord without any reservation or fear. This is especially true of vulnerable persons, and in particular, our children. The Lord desires that nothing hinder them from experiencing the joy and the fullness of life, which he seeks to impart to them, least of all, an environment that does not sufficiently ensure their safety; for the Kingdom belongs to such as these.

In order to fulfill our Lord’s mandate to remove any obstacle that might prevent the little ones from knowing him, Holy Redeemer parish is thoroughly committed to ensuring a safe environment for all, especially for our children. As part of this effort, ALL Holy Redeemer School and parish adults, ages eighteen and above, who maintain significant contact with children either at the School, or at Parish events, are required to comply with the Archdiocese of Washington Child Protection Policy. Those included in this category, in addition to clergy, teachers, and staff, are any persons who assist as field trip chaperons, school volunteers, CYO coaches, parents visiting classrooms for parties, and Religious Education volunteers. All such persons are required by both the Parish and the Archdiocese to become child protection certified through a program known as VIRTUS.

Those who are interested in becoming certified are required to register a VIRTUS account, participate in a three hour training class called VIRTUS: Protecting God’s Children, complete an electronic background check that is conducted by the F.B.I., read the Archdiocese of Washington Child Protection Policy and submit an application.

All children and youth in the School and in our Sunday Religious Education program, as mandated by the Archdiocese of Washington, receive annually an age-appropriate Safe Environment instruction, which highlights the ways that they can determine if a person or situation is safe, and encourages them to speak out if they feel unsafe in any way.

Any Archdiocesan personnel, including those who do not work or volunteer with children, who has reason to believe or suspects that any child has been the victim of physical abuse, sexual abuse, sexual assault or neglect shall make a report to the appropriate civil authorities and to the appropriate Archdiocesan authorities as listed below and in the Archdiocesan Child Protection Policy book.

For those who suspect that child abuse or neglect is taking place, please immediately contact:

1.) The civil authorities (see Section 5 and Appendix A of the Archdiocese of Washington Child Protection Policy)

2.) Either our Pastor Fr. Mark Smith, or our Parochial Vicar Fr. Andrew Clyne at (301) 474-3920, or the School’s Principal Mrs. Maria Bovich at (301) 474-3993

 3.) AND the Archdiocesan Director of Child and Youth Protection, Courtney Chase at (301) 853-5328

For those who have suffered abuse, healing is always possible. We invite you to talk with either Fr. Mark or Fr. Andrew. For those who would feel more comfortable remaining anonymous, we invite you as well to contact the Office of Child and Youth Protection & Safe Environment at (301) 853-5328, so that you or someone you know in need, may receive assistance.

For those interested, more information and the full Archdiocese of Washington Child Protection Policy - which is stringently observed by Holy Redeemer - may be found if you CLICK HERE.