overnight retreats–as well as work camps, mission trips, summer conferences, World Youth Day and any other event involving travel and overnight stays–can be tremendously valuable in the youth’s spiritual formation and other ways. The “feelings” about the leadership are not enough, in my opinion as a parent, to justify trusting a child for a weekend or longer to the the care of others. I would require evidence and experience of reliability and good judgement before my child participated, and if at all possible, I would be around.
Since my diocese has recently been “amalgamated” or put under control of GH, I assume that policies on overnight events will be reviewed. Personally, I would not touch it without a lot more parental involvement than is now the case in my parish. Yes, any volunteer or paid worker, parent or otherwise, who has significant contact with children or youth is required to complete the Virtus “Protecting God’s Children-Safe Environment” orientation, and to undergo a criminal background check. So what. 90 percent of abusers have no previous criminal record because past victims did not report, authorities took no action, or justice system failed to convict and punish. Parents, know the leadership of any program, church, school, or community, your child is involved in, preferably become involved yourself. By the way, statistics and new NEA study shows your child is much, much more likely to be abused at school than at church, and hundreds of times more likely to be abused by a family member than by a school or church worker.
