MINT HILL — Amy Ankenbruck, faith formation coordinator at St. Luke Parish in Mint Hill, has conducted VIRTUS training for the past five years. The Catholic News Herald recently reached out to Ankenbruck to explain more about the VIRTUS program, which is also called “Protecting God’s Children,” and why she participates as a trainer:
CNH: What is the VIRTUS program, and why did you become an instructor?
Ankenbruck: The VIRTUS program helps to educate adults about preventing sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults, as well as proper reporting of suspected abuse. As the coordinator of faith formation at St. Luke’s, I felt that it was important to offer this class because I strongly feel that sexual abuse is something that can be prevented, and needs to be reported when it happens.
CNH: How have the training sessions you’ve conducted helped people become more aware of the problem of child abuse, and then be able to help prevent the problem from happening in our diocese?
Ankenbruck: In my training sessions, I see volunteers not only from St. Luke, but also from all over the Diocese of Charlotte. Within the training, volunteers first learn how predators work, and then they learn how to prevent abuse from happening, or how to recognize the signs that abuse has occurred.
The most important part of the training is helping people to feel comfortable reporting inappropriate behavior or abuse. If we know about inappropriate behavior but do nothing, the problem will never be solved.
CNH: What feedback have you heard from people after they finished the training – was it what they expected, and how did they find it useful to them?
Ankenbruck: The feedback from the training is great. Frankly, many people come to the training feeling that it is something that they are forced to do to serve in ministry, but leave saying that every adult should have this training, so you know there is a positive effect.
People share that they had many misconceptions about sexual predators such as they are always male (false), they are always homosexual (also false, as many are married and have children of their own), or that priestly celibacy leads to molestation. That is a false statement; people need to understand that predators are predators regardless of their vocation or career. A vow of celibacy will not change a person’s sexual orientation or preference.
I’ve also found that the training is useful because I see people applying this training not only in their church environment, but as parents or in their schools. Volunteers are looking for signs of abuse everywhere, and they are willing to report it. That kind of vigilance will make it very hard for predators to harm children and vulnerable adults anywhere.
CNH: What else would you want readers to know about the importance of the VIRTUS program in our diocese?
Ankenbruck: I would want readers to know that we can’t stand for a child being harmed in any situation, and the only way to stop it is through educating ourselves through programs like VIRTUS.
VIRTUS helps adults to see how to prevent abuse from ever happening, and see how to report misconduct or abuse when it happens.
For anyone who is upset over stories of abuse and misconduct, I urge them to be part of the solution by participating in VIRTUS training.
— Patricia L. Guilfoyle, editor
51,829: The number of adults who have received Safe Environment training, called “Protecting God’s Children,” since 2002
60,892: The number of criminal background checks were processed by the diocese since 2002
$1,328,910: How much has been spent on Safe Environment programs and training in the diocese since 2004
330: The number of people trained as VIRTUS “Protecting God’s Children“ facilitators since 2002
