St. Matthew the Apostle Catholic Church follows the requirements of the Archdiocese of St. Louis Safe Environment Program (Protecting God's Children). The program is designed to help protect the youth, elderly, and vulnerable adults of our parish as they participate in activities within our community. All volunteers and employees who work with children at St. Matthew the Apostle Church must be in full compliance with the program.
Victims of sexual abuse, in addition to contacting civil authorities, are asked to come forward in order to receive pastoral assistance. Reports of abuse may be made to any Pastor or to:
If you believe that you, or someone you know, has been a victim of abuse involving a Jesuit, you are encouraged to contact law enforcement and the Coordinator of Pastoral Support and Outreach for the Jesuits, Carol Zarinelli Brescia, MSW, LCSW, at 314-915-7168 or ucsoutreach@jesuits.org.
On January 1, 2020, the Office of Child and Youth Protection of the Archdiocese of St. Louis implemented a new system for all employees and volunteers to ensure compliance with the Safe Environment requirements. Please Note: all employees and volunteers must register in the new system.
The link for both the current schedule for Protecting God's Children workshops and compliance registration is: www.preventandprotectstl.org
On the new site you willl follow the prompts to icomplete the following:*** If you have previously attended a PGC workshop,the sytem will find and/or ask you to confirm your previous record of attendance. You will not be prompted to register for an upcoming workshop. If, for some reason, it does not match your previous training to this account and you are prompted to register for a class, please register for "PREVIOUSLIY ATTENDED-DATE NOT LISTED" and send an email to ocyp@archstl.org. The Office of Child and Protection will apply the correct training record to your account.
These requirements are mandated by the United States Council of Catholic Bishops and are followed by every diocese in the country. The policies are the Church's attempt to ensure the suitability of all adults who work or volunteer around your children.
If you have any questions, or have taken these steps at another Parish in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, please contact Peg Murphy at stmatthews@sbcglobal.net or (314) 531-6443.