Safety in the Church
The system of protecting minors and vulnerable persons
In the Ukrainian context, the first systematic steps towards creating safety for minors and vulnerable persons in the church were made in early 2019 with the publication of the document "Regulations for the Interpretation of Cases of Sexual Abuse of Minors by the Clergy," issued jointly by the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC and the Bishops' Conference of the RCC in Ukraine. According to the document, each diocese had to adopt instructions on how to interpret cases of sexual abuse of minors by clergy and laity.
The protection of minors was the main topic of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC at the end of 2019. This Synod, at the call of the Pope in the Apostolic Letter Vos estis lux mundi, led to the creation of a system of reporting cases of abuse and to the introduction of formation sessions for the clergy, consecrated persons and lay people on the topic of violence prevention. Per the resolution of this Synod in 2021, the Child Dignity Centre was established at UCU.
Therefore, starting from 2019, at the level of each (arch)diocese, the exarchate of the UGCC has:
● an appointed person obliged to hear out everyone who may have suffered from sexual violence by the clergy and representatives of the church institution (including ordained persons and lay people)
● a group of specialists (clergyman, psychologist, psychiatrist, canonist) who must provide psychological and spiritual support to a person who might have been abused, as well as to their family
Here you can download the map with the data of those responsible for reporting.
The Church has taken two essential steps in response:
● it determined that it responds to cases involving clergy, ordained persons, seminarians, and lay people regarding minors (up to the age of 18) and vulnerable adults
● it determined that it considers both current cases of abuse and those that happened to adults in childhood (the limitation period on the crime is 20 years)
Learn more about the algorithm for responding to cases of abuse in the Church.
In July 2022, the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC adopted “Norms and principles of the protection of minors and vulnerable persons in the pastoral activity of the UGCC”. Every diocese and parish of the UGCC in Ukraine must adhere to this document of security policies in its activities. According to these policies:
Each (arch)diocese or exarchate of the UGCC must provide the following:
access to training on child safety for all clergy
activities related to counseling and training in parishes
training of persons responsible for receiving reports of incidents of violence and their teams
a transparent procedure for reporting cases and responding to them, maintaining proper, friendly communication with victims
Each parish of the UGCC must:
provide access to the “Regulations” for everyone who works in the Church
hold meetings for joint discussion of the policy of protection of children and vulnerable persons
provide the procedure for familiarising new community members with the “Regulations”
develop an action plan, “Safe Church in My Community”
appoint a person responsible for safety to monitor the situation in the parish
The Role of the Child Dignity Centre
We aim to give the church community the knowledge and tools to ensure the child’s dignity and safety. We are an educational structure that can support the church institute's work to protect minors and vulnerable persons through training, formation, and expertise.
We help dioceses and parishes to create a safe environment for children through the following:
The “Child’s Safety Is the Responsibility of Every Adult” online course is hosted on the UCU online platform. It includes 17 video lectures by experts that provide basic knowledge of the safety of minors and vulnerable persons to all those working with them. It enables teachers and catechists to obtain a certificate with 1 ECTS credit (30 hours).
In addition, we developed a special course for doctors interacting with minors.
The workshop includes training sessions teaching participants to create a safety policy document for their organisation. They also receive expert support in the writing process. Safety policies are an essential document that forms the mechanism for creating safety for minors and vulnerable adults in the organisation.
The project provides training and development of parishes’ potential to create a friendly and safe environment for the child. It includes the following: 1. Participation in a training workshop for teams of parish leaders on the concept of a child-friendly environment 2. Implementation of projects developed during the workshop and receiving mini-grant support.
We conduct two-level training: for teams responsible for protecting minors and vulnerable persons at the level of (arch)dioceses, exarchates, and congregations; for those who work with minors and vulnerable persons in the church environment. We also conduct formation sessions for seminaries.
“Human Dignity and the Dignity of the Human Body” course by the Institute of Family and Married Life for students of the Ukrainian Catholic University
Course for seminarians of the Lviv Theological Seminary of the Holy Spirit UGCC.
We held a series of round tables and webinars:
- “God, Man, War” round table about the ways the Church can help during the war
- a series of webinars on the impact of war on a person and self-help methods for the UGCC priests in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland
- a series of webinars on support for internally displaced persons for dioceses and church organisations of the Catholic Church in Ukraine
In addition, we have prepared a separate “Child-Friendly Church” form for you. It will help you do a detailed analysis of your work with children in terms of safety and determine what you need to improve.
Fundamental documents
Apostolic Letter Motu Proprio “Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela” (2001) Regulations concerning the most severe crimes reserved to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith
These documents are the first to include harassment and sexual violence against persons under 18 and the crime of child pornography as “grave sins”. They also oblige the bishops to report such accusations to the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith.
Circular Letter (2011)
The letter addresses all Bishops’ Conferences asking to publish guidelines for handling allegations of sexual abuse in their territories.
Apostolic Letter Motu Proprio “Like a Loving Mother” (2016)
It establishes procedural rules for removing bishops (and similar authorities) from office, especially in cases of inadequate response to reports of sexual abuse.
Apostolic Letter "Vox estis lux mundi" (2019)
The letter introduces mandatory reporting of cases of sexual violence for priests and the faithful. It penalises church authorities that avoid civil or canonical investigations into sexual abuse cases. The age limit for the crime of child pornography has been raised from 14 to 18.
Vademecum 2.0 (2022)
The document describes certain aspects of the procedure for consideration of cases of sexual violence against minors committed by clergy members. It is based on the current regulations and guides those dealing with such cases.
“Basic provisions on the interpretation of cases of sexual abuse against minors by the clergy of the UGCC and RCC” (2019)
These provisions contain basic instructions for eparchial/diocesan bishops and superiors of Institutes of Consecrated Life, responsible for preventing and combating the crime of sexual violence, on how they should act in the event of accusations levelled at the clerics subject to them.
“Norms and principles of protection of minors and vulnerable persons in the pastoral activity of the UGCC in Ukraine” (2022)
This document serves as a guideline for the UGCC in creating a safe environment for working with minors and vulnerable persons on the territory of parishes, dioceses, seminaries, monasteries, and other church institutions, as well as outside their boundaries, if involved: clergy, ordained persons, seminarians, lay people performing the functions of educators, teachers, animators and volunteers or hold various positions.
Here you can download a selection of translations of the fundamental documents used by the UGCC in matters of protecting minors.
