Resources for April: Child Abuse Prevention Month
Child abuse remains a national problem. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services there were 905,000 reported child abuse victims in 2006 alone. Imagine if a disease claimed that many young lives. What would be our national response? Abuse, even if it is not fatal, robs a life and damages a child's spirit. It changes who that person is on a fundamental level.
A hallmark of the Catholic Church is the protection of life and the dignity of the human person. Through scripture and Catholic teachings we are called to protect the life and dignity of all human persons no matter how young or old. Working to prevent child abuse is an important response of what we are called to do as Church.
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. The Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection has compiled for your consideration a number of resources to use this coming April. These resources were designed for use at the diocesan and parish level during the month of April and can easily be duplicated and distributed to your parishes.
According to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) there are 25,857 Catholic parishes and schools in the United States. If every Catholic parish or school could stop just one child from being abused we could make a tremendous difference. By educating people and working together we can make a difference in the lives of children!