In fact, in light of the scandals in Pennsylvania, closely following on the still-developing story of ex-Cardinal McCarrick, I think it would be fully acceptable for anyone seriously considering involvement in any OCSP community to ask the priest involved to show them the Virtus training records for all clergy, staff, and volunteers connected with the community. This would include ushers, greeters, eucharistic ministers, catechists, "lay administrators", acolytes, and so forth. If the priest refuses to do this, it is fully appropriate to go find a diocesan parish with reverent OF liturgy and a music program -- Virtus is not iffy in dioceses.
There are several advantages to a requirement that parish staff and volunteers be Virtus certified. For starters, the knowledge that candidates will be fingerprinted and undergo a background check is sufficient to deter most potential predators -- this is explained in the class. But the occasional case where someone with a record falls through and is identified also takes place. The case of the New Jersey priest who was murdered when he had to fire the parish janitor is sufficient illustration.
But also, the cautions and illustrations in the classes build community awareness. Ushers, for instance, are instructed to pay attention to children running loose in and around the nave, and especially any who go to the restroom without escort. There are foolish parents even among Catholics, as we see in Calgary. Participants are told about being careful who rides with whom in the back of the parish van, for that matter. Uncomfortable as it may be, participants are warned about situations like Dcn Orr, who kissed pubescent boys on the mouth.
And there's Fr Weirdo, the camera amateur who takes lotsa pictures of the kids. The case of Fr Ratigan in Kansas City comes to mind. Folks, stay away. Bishops don't always take action.
There's a bigger problem in the OCSP, where there are many small and startup or intermittent groups. There must be people who are de facto sorta-kinda volunteers, potentially with access to children and at-risk adults, who aren’t actually crossing a “volunteer” threshold. And the groups presumably have no real knowledge of how and where to schedule diocesan Virtus training even if they wanted to do it. But I still question how many ushers, “lay administrators”, or whatever in any OCSP parish get Virtus training, and I doubt if any request from Houston is taken seriously.
I also question the proposals for home school co-ops. Has anyone seriously considered whether the part-time people involved in these should be Virtus certified? Would Bp Lopes go so far as to insist that all potential adults connected with these co-ops be certified -- and if not, he'll refuse to allow them to operate? My guess is he won't, because his main interest appears to be creating an impression of a thriving operation, and withholding permissions would be contrary to that. But I would also guess that enforcing Virtus certification would result in closing most of the OCSP communities.
The more I've learned in doing this blog, the more I'm convinced serious people should get involved in real diocesan parishes. The good ones are everywhere.
