A Website Designed to Support Safe Pastoral Environments

The Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Edmonton has officially launched its new Safe Environments website.  This webpage was created to outline the Eparchy’s Safe Environments Policy and was designed to make it easy for parishes and faithful to navigate and understand why such a policy is important in our Church and how the policy applies to them.  The website includes sections on responsible ministry, screening and training information, and reporting and responding to abuse.

The intent of the policy is to provide clear directives in order to establish and maintain a safe pastoral environment that is free from abuse. The website outlines information and requirements for parishes and everyone providing ministry in the Church, including all clergy, religious, seminarians, laity, employees and volunteers.

For example, all individuals involved in ministry must undergo Safe Environments Training, which teaches us how to identify abuse, not only in our Church, but also in our families and communities. Safe Environment Training sets standards of appropriate behaviour so that non-appropriate behaviour is easily noticeable and can be addressed immediately. It teaches us when and how to report abuse to church and civil authorities.

The Church takes seriously its responsibility to provide a safe pastoral environment within its parishes and ministries. When an allegation arises, the Eparchy of Edmonton is committed to responding with compassion and in a timely manner, providing assistance to those in need of healing and reconciliation, and will take any and all means to prevent a future occurrence of abuse.

To read our full regarding Safe Environments Policy, view the webpage.