By Fr. Terry W. Specht
Special to the Herald
(From the issue of 8/12/04)

Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde’s announcement to require fingerprinting and criminal history background checks for all diocesan personnel and volunteers who have substantial contact with children may not have come as the most welcome of news for those who have to balance budgets, run programs and recruit volunteers.

The new requirement that will affect an estimated 15,000 individuals across the diocese involved in 72 parishes and missions and 39 schools, and will be seen by many as inconvenient and costly, brings with it the risk of delaying some parish and school operations, projects and ministries. It compelled many priests and administrators to ask the very real question: Why would someone who is volunteering his or her time to this community agree to a compromise of his or her privacy and the time and energy necessary to complete these checks?

In responding to the recently enacted policy, one priest even described it as "a violation of one’s civil rights."

While giving these concerns the seriousness they deserve, the Church can and should still do nothing less.

Often forgotten in debates revolving around rights is the unassailable truth that with rights come obligations. In the Catholic perspective, obligation often is the more pressing concern. While one has many rights, one does not have a "right" to have access to other peoples’ children. The diocese has an obligation to families to demonstrate that every reasonable precaution has been taken to provide all children entrusted to the community of faith with a safe and nurturing environment. One way to meet this obligation is to ensure that we know the background of those who work with children.

The fingerprinting and criminal history background checks that thousands of people of the diocese will have to undergo in the coming months represent a baseline of protection for the children placed by their parents in the care of the Church. They are measures that build upon the policies and procedures that have been developed in the diocese since 1991 for the prevention and reporting of cases of sexual misconduct and child abuse. They are also in keeping with promises of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, who in their "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People," pledged to evaluate the background of all Church personnel who have responsibility for the care and supervision of children and young people. Another diocese that has completed similar background checks found that five persons who had volunteered to work with children were convicted child abusers. Our own children deserve nothing less than our taking every reasonable precaution to ensure their safety.

Here are a few things that the new policy on background checks is not:

There are many possible reactions to the introduction of this policy but after reflection, perhaps the best reaction is hope … that the extra steps and the extra money needed for this more detailed protective process will deter some who mean harm and protect those who need our care. We should nourish the hope that this act of humility and sacrifice which Church workers are called upon to give will deepen their faith in God and strengthen their sense of service to his children.