UNITED STATES
The Wanderer
By CHRISTOPHER MANION
The recent national mandate to “all bishops” from Teresa Kettelkamp, director of the USCCB’s Office of Child and Youth Protection, has rekindled the controversy over the “safe environment” programs mandated by the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, adopted by the bishops in 2002.
As The Wanderer reported two weeks ago, a forceful response to Kettelkamp’s directive came from Bishop Robert Vasa of the Diocese of Baker, Ore. Bishop Vasa published a column in the diocesan newspaper entitled, “We Need Answers.” The bishop said that, until he had those answers, he would be inclined to ignore Kettelkamp’s mandates.
One of Bishop Vasa’s central questions addressed the origins of the “safe environment” programs. “Where do these programs come from,” he asks.