Protecting God's Children Recertification Needed by November 1, 2023

Protecting God's Children Recertification

All parish employees and parish volunteers who completed Protecting God's Children (PGC) before January 1, 2020, must be recertified by November 1, 2023. The goal is to protect, especially children and vulnerable adults from sexual abuse. The training can all be done online and should take about 2.5 hours to complete.

Participants are taught to identify situations that could leave a child vulnerable, the signs that a child may have experienced abuse, the methods of sexual offenders and critical steps to help prevent abuse. The program has trained more than 101,000 adults in Archdiocese of Detroit parishes, schools and other ministries, creating a united faith community that is uniquely qualified to protect our children.

Visit virtusonline.org to log in to your account or create a new account. You can then register for an online session.

There are online classes scheduled on September 20 and 27.

Who is required to attend Protecting God's Children workshops?

• All clergy working in the Archdiocese of Detroit
• All adult paid employees of Central Services, Parishes, and Catholic Schools
• All adult volunteers

Not our compliance, but our calling

Often when we hear about the efforts of the Church in regard to sexual abuse, we hear about the importance of compliance with the USCCB Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. From a faith environment perspective, the importance is not in our compliance, but in our calling. As Catholics, we are called to respect the life and dignity of every human person from conception to natural death. The Charter guides us in action to our calling. Our calling furthers the Gospel message of Christ.