Archdiocese's Involvement in the Minnesota Religious Council

By Jim Accurso
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis
November 07, 2013

http://www.archspm.org/news-events/news-detail.php?intResourceID=10585

The Minneapolis StarTribune recently published an article regarding the Minnesota Religious Council (MRC), which is a coalition of Minnesota churches from several denominations that has worked together for common causes since the early 1990s.

While the Archdiocese funded much of the costs of the MRC, there were many churches that supported the cause as members and leaders. More importantly, all of the churches that are part of the MRC have a deep heartfelt commitment to creating and maintaining safe environments and protecting minors.

The MRC, along with dozens of organizations that provide programming and care for minors, had serious concerns about the appropriateness of lifting the statute of limitations for organizations that serve children in Minnesota. One of the just purposes of having a statute of limitations is that after significant time has passed, the ability to reconstruct the situation that is alleged is very difficult, if not impossible in many cases.  In addition, lifting a statute of limitations does nothing to protect children going forward. This is why the MRC, and many others, lobbied to protect the rights of youth-serving organizations to defend themselves and to support measures that would genuinely protect young people.

The MRC lobbying regarding the statute of limitations in no way alters or minimizes this important, core commitment of all of our faiths.