Deacon Westlake: Diocese in Full Compliance

On July 28, Bishop Patrick J. Zurek was pleased to announce that the Diocese of Amarillo is in full compliance with the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishop’s Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.

In a letter dated July 24 to Bishop Zurek from Stonebridge Business Partners, they advised that the “Amarillo Diocese was found to be in compliance” with the Charter audit period of July 1, 2013-June 30, 2014.

Stonebridge is an independent auditing firm commissioned by the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops to oversee the implementation of the Charter and to ensure compliance with its mandates.

Bishop Zurek offers a special thanks to all Pastors, Principals, Christian Formation Directors/Coordinators, Youth Directors, Safe Environment Coordinators, Trainers, Teachers, Volunteers and Parents who worked so hard and continue to do so, year after year, to keep our parishes, schools and Catholic institutions a safe place for everyone, and most especially for our children.

Bishop Zurek noted that the diocese is continuing to expand and enhance all Safe Environment Training and Screening Programs, as evidenced by the June 2014 training of Facilitators of the Praesidium Safe Environment Training Program for Adults, Volunteers, Employees, Religious, Priests and Deacons and all those that minister in our diocese.

In addition the fourth segment of Right Relationships for all grade levels, has been added to the available Safe Environment programs for our Catholic Schools and parish programs. Such programs help the Diocese to do all it can to ensure the most vigilant and safest environment possible to the benefit young and old alike.

As a result of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, dioceses annually undergo an audit. The Diocese of Amarillo has always been open to these audits since they were first initiated in 2002 and as such have always (12 out of 12 audits) been found to be in “full compliance.”

As part of the Charter Audit process, the Diocese of Amarillo will undergo a full on-site audit in the early fall 2015 for the audit year of July 1, 2014-June 30, 2015.

For further information regarding Safe Environment please visit the Diocese of Amarillo website, www.amarillodiocese.org., under the Safe Environment tab.

Deacon Blaine Westlake is Director of Safe Environment for the Diocese of Amarillo.