GUAM
Pacific News Center
Written by Janela Carrera
This policy is used throughout churches in the United States and is standard among diocese.
Guam – Some big changes for the Archdiocese of Agana were announced today as Coadjutor Archbishop Michael Byrnes said that they are now adhering to a new policy that deals with child molestation in the church.
It’s called the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People and was established by the US Catholic Conference of Bishops. It was created in 2002 and then ratified in 2005. The charter has three main focuses, said Byrnes.
“Why are we doing this? Well the provisions of the charter of the US Congress of Bishops has three main foc: number one, to assist in healing of those who have been injured; second, to protect children and young people; and third, to restore trust and harmony and faith to our community,” he said.
Furthermore, Archbishop Byrnes says this charter is recognized as having some of the best practices in the world in protecting minors. Byrnes adds that over the last few weeks he has been meeting with various priests, catholic school teachers and catechists to talk about adopting this new policy.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.