Over the last twenty-five years, most religious communities of men in the United States developed very significant protocols and formation in the safeguarding of minors. There continues to be more work to do. Today, though, there are additional areas of safeguarding ministry that require more significant policies, procedures, and formation. One of these is adult misconduct. We at CMSM convened an Adult Misconduct Working Group which studied the issue for over two years. This effort resulted in our Adult Misconduct Resource which we introduced at our pre-assembly this past July. This resource is the beginning of expanded ones in this important area. Next month, we will have a webinar on adult misconduct that will give an overview of this new resource which is already available on our website in the Safeguarding section of Member Content. In January, we will have a webinar on wellness and mental health of members and safeguarding. We invite members and their safeguarding teams to participate in these webinars and to use and distribute the Adults Misconduct Resource.
Last week, we opened registration for our Safeguarding Ministry Conference (March 15-18, 2027) with the theme “One Commitment, Many Contexts: Fostering Cultures of Safety and Spiritual Integrity.” We are pleased to announce that Fr. Hans Zollner, S.J., an international expert in safeguarding ministry will be speaking at the Conference and leading this year’s Safeguarding Retreat. Fr. Zollner is the Director of the Institute of Anthropology at the Gregorian University and was a founding member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. We hope that CMSM members and their safeguarding teams will join us for this important safeguarding event.
| Frank Donio, SAC
Executive Director |
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This is an excerpt from the October 2026 Items of Note. Items of Note is a monthly email for CMSM members and partners. If you are not receiving Items of Note once a month via email, please email contact@cmsm.org.
