Lord Prepare Me to be a Sanctuary: Pure and Holy, Tried and True!
Editor’s Note:
We wish to thank Reverend Gadziala of the Diocese of Mandeville for allowing the VIRTUS Program to post his article first published in Catholic Opinion; October 17, 2012.
As Jamaicans, we love to sing and Praise the Lord; one of my personal favorite Praise Songs is “Lord Prepare Me to be a Sanctuary” by John Thompson and Randy Scruggs. The words are a prayer unto God, asking Him to prepare our body and indeed our very humanity into a sanctuary—a living tabernacle or dwelling place for the Lord. The refrain is worth stating: “Lord Prepare me to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true, with thanksgiving, I’ll be a living sanctuary for you.” At the heart of Roman Catholic Social Teaching is the doctrine that all people are created in the image and likeness of God; and as such persons, we are indeed living “sanctuaries” for the Lord. St. Paul reminds us in his writings that we are the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12)—Christ is the head and we are the members; through the celebration and the reception of Baptism, Christians believe that the Holy Spirit is breathed into the soul, freeing the person of original sin and restoring the person to a life of grace. In Baptism, the Holy Spirit makes His dwelling in the soul and the body becomes an actual sanctuary—“pure and holy, tried and true!”
Because we are created in the image and likeness of God, we are indeed living sanctuaries of the Lord through the gift of Baptism. As a living sanctuary, each and every person has a humanity that is created in the image and likeness of God. This humanity has in its essence the gift of love that is expressed in one’s sexuality, personality, and one’s spirituality. In our humanity, these three aspects of love are expressed throughout our lives, and many a time, we take for granted the sacred gifts of our sexuality, personality, and our spirituality. One’s sexuality as well as personality and spirituality are truly gifts from the Lord; at times the misuse of one’s sexuality can be sinful; and sometimes the misuse of one’s sexuality can be criminal and even evil. Grounded in one’s essence of being truly human is having the moral will to do Good and to avoid what is bad—to strive for holiness and to renounce what is morally evil; common to all religious behavior is exercise of the Golden Rule, that is, do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
In our humanity, we are influenced by the gifts of Faith and Reason—and thus, one’s sexuality and personality is either built up or torn down by one’s non-practice of a religious Faith and the exercise of poor choices in one’s conscience. The existence of child sexual abuse, historically in the world, depicts humanity at its worst. The perpetrators of child sexual abuse do not truly consider the ramifications of Faith or Reason in the choice to abuse children for his or her self gratification; and for the child victims, the scars of sexual abuse can last a lifetime, leaving an impression of the child’s sexuality and personality obscured. The acts of sexual abuse demonstrate a severely distorted view of sexuality and a deviant personality that is not congruent to God’s law and to what is morally acceptable and just in society. The credibility of a respectable civilization rests on the capacity of a society to care for its most vulnerable of the population, including the care and protection of children.
In Jamaica, all adults are encouraged and have a responsibility to safeguard the best interests of our nation’s children. Thankfully, the Child Care and Protection Act of Jamaica has three specific objectives: 1) to make sure that adults consider the views and best interests of children; 2) to put in place new organizations to monitor the care and protection of children—to provide aid to children who are in need of care and protection; and 3) to make sure that all children are protected from abuse or neglect (Sherry—Ann McGregor, “Securing Children’s Rights,” The Gleaner’s Flair Magazine, September 17, 2012).
As well as government’s task to provide structure for a just society, it is the mission of Christians to build up societies by providing pastoral care for all people. Specifically, the Roman Catholic Church has historically offered assistance to civil societies by its mission in social ministries, education through primary, secondary, and Catholic colleges and universities as well as in providing health care through clinics and hospitals. In general, the Roman Catholic Church has supported the fostering and development of the spiritual and material development of individual persons and societies.
The Roman Catholic Bishops of the Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC) are committed to implement fully its Diocesan Policies dealing with Allegations of sexual abuse of minors by priests or deacons and other personnel who work and/or volunteer on behalf of the Church or any of its institutions. (see works cited) The Roman Catholic Church is committed to work to help end child sex abuse and to foster a safe environment for children to thrive. Moreover, the Bishops of the AEC have pledged to promote healing and reconciliation with victim survivors of child sexual abuse; to guarantee an effective response to allegations of sexual abuse of minors as well as to ensure the accountability of the Church’s proceedings, and to protect the faithful in the future.
The Roman Catholic Church serving the nation of Jamaica is in the process of establishing Safe Environment Programmes.” Through a quality “Safe Environment Programme,” offered by the VIRTUS® Programme initiative, it is the hope that the Church might be better able to cooperate with parents, civil authorities, educators, and community organizations to provide training for children, youth, parents, ministers, educators, and others about ways to make and maintain a safe environment for children. The Roman Catholic Church serving in Jamaica will make clear to the Roman Catholic Clergy and all members of the community the standards of conduct for clergy and other persons in positions of trust with regard to sexual abuse.
Through the VIRTUS Programme initiative, it is the hope that the Roman Catholic Church in Jamaica will create a safe environment for children and young people who study and worship in Catholic Schools and Catholic institutions. Moreover, the Archdiocese of Kingston, as well as the Dioceses of Mandeville and Montego Bay are committed to providing safe environments and fostering continuous improvement in every organization that sponsors activities and/or provides services to children and youth. Through a series of workshops, educational materials, classroom instruction and eventual background checks, the Roman Catholic Church in Jamaica is increasing awareness of potentially harmful situations through the VIRTUS Training workshops.
The VIRTUS “Protecting God’s Children for Adults” Training Programme is a workshop sponsored by the National Catholic Risk Retention Group, Inc., and the aim of VIRTUS is two—fold: 1) to provide an awareness of child sexual abuse to adults who work and minister to children, and 2) to enable each and every adult of the Church to be a protector of children. More information about VIRTUS can be obtained by going online to the website, www.virtus.org. It is the aim of the VIRTUS Programme to provide a safe environment for children and vulnerable adults in any and every Catholic Institution, whether it is the parish youth programme, the Catholic School, or personal health care home for children or vulnerable adults.
Creating an awareness of child sexual abuse, the VIRTUS Programme is designed to dispel certain myths about sexual abuse, including the myth that strangers are responsible for most child sex abuse and that most sex abusers are homosexual and that children usually lie about child sexual abuse. Through knowledge and education, a safe environment can be fostered for children. The VIRTUS Programme teaches that in order to create a safe environment for children, five (5) steps are required; these five steps are 1) know the warning signs of sexual abuse; 2) control access to children; 3) monitor all programmes; 4) be aware of our children; and 5) communicate our concerns to proper civil and church authorities. In addition to initial training workshops, online, continuing training gives the Catholic volunteer, lay employee, or religious minister access to additional and quality resources that will aid the person in being vigilant to the children of Jamaica and to offer assistance to those who have been injured through abuse, as well as offer a deterrent to any potential perpetrator of children.
In sum, the Roman Catholic Church in Jamaica is committed to fostering and sustaining a safe environment for children and all vulnerable adults within the ministry of children and youth in all Catholic Institutions on the island. It is the eventual hope that through careful screenings and background checks as well as through the requisite attendance of the VIRTUS training workshops and online formation; employees and volunteers of the Church will obtain the requisite tools to help them in protecting our children of Jamaica by knowing warning signs, controlling access and monitoring programmes, being aware and communicating concerns to the proper authorities. It is the natural and proper right for parents to educate and protect the rights of their children, and it is the role of government and faith communities to assist parents and guardians of children to provide a safe environment for children to mature into the person that God has purposely intended. The Roman Catholic Church is privileged to do its part in providing a safe environment for children and offering healing assistance to those who have been injured through child sexual abuse.
Created in the image and likeness of God; we all have a responsibility to make sure that each and every child is properly cared for and protected against perpetrators who participate in acts of child sex abuse that offend the proper dignity of a child of God. The next time we hear the song, “Lord Prepare Me to be a Sanctuary,” may we be reminded of God’s invitation to build up one another to be a living sanctuary, “Pure and Holy, tried and true!”
Works Cited:
Common Norms of the Antilles Episcopal Conference for Diocesan Policies dealing Allegations of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Priests or Deacons (approved 23 November 2006; Promulgated 23 April 2007). These Common Norms have been granted recognition by the Holy See. The Nihil Obstat was given by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on July 18, 2006; and, approval was given the Congregation of the Evangelization of Peoples on November 23, 2006. In accordance with the practice of the Antilles Episcopal Conference, they are legitimately promulgated on April 23, 2007 and constitute particular law for all the diocese of the conference.
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