Celebrating a collective commitment to protect all of God's children, more than 500 parish leaders, clergy members, VIRTUS facilitators and Good-Touch/Bad-Touch trainers attended a Safeguard the Children liturgy and recognition service May 1 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.

Cardinal Roger Mahony, concelebrating with 14 clergy members, opened the Mass by welcoming the members of the congregation "who have stepped forward to make sure our church is safe for children and young people." He also urged participants to take the opportunity to pray for survivors of sexual abuse.

In his homily, Cardinal Mahony called the day's Gospel reading in which Jesus tells his disciples, "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you," very reassuring. He said that even during last month's 17 days of papal vacancy, the "abiding presence of Jesus was with the church." The cardinal added this has been very consoling over the last several years since the start of the clergy sexual abuse crisis.

"This [divine presence] applies when clergy have abused others and when other [church workers] have not kept their commitments," stated the cardinal. "The church is greater than the conduct of any individual. It has in its heart and center the presence of Jesus…Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to assist us in recognizing what is wrong and fix it."

He noted that members of the congregation were representative of a much larger number of Catholic leaders who volunteer in archdiocesan child protection programs. "Each one of us shares a responsibility to make sure the church is as committed and faithful and safe as it can possibly be," the cardinal said. "I am so grateful to each and every one of you."

At the end of the liturgy, Joan Vienna, Safeguard the Children coordinator, praised members of the congregation, including parish Safeguard the Children committee members, VIRTUS child protection training facilitators and Good-Touch/Bad-Touch trainers, for their groundbreaking work.

"We have begun a revolution making our schools, and the world, a safer place for children and young people," declared Vienna. She noted that more than 2,000 archdiocesan volunteer lay leaders have trained over 20,000 children and adult participants in the area of child and youth sexual abuse.

At a reception in the Cathedral Conference Center following the liturgy, participants received lapel pins acknowledging their past and future efforts in the protection of children.

"This celebration is a testament to everybody's service," said Mary Blair, principal of St. Euphrasia School (Granada Hills), who chairs the archdiocesan Safeguard the Children parish advisory board. "I am grateful and pleased with the way the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has moved forward on this issue."

Daphne Sheridan Vass, St. Monica Church Safeguard the Children committee chair, said VIRTUS child protection training in her Santa Monica parish has "sensitized" people about ways in which pedophiles can gain access to children. "We have helped raised the consciousness of staff, catechists and parishioners," said Vass.

Clergy sexual abuse survivor, Kathleen Hawkins, said she was impressed with Cardinal Mahony's homily centering on God's abiding presence in times of crisis. She added that she appreciated his comment that everybody has a responsibility to protect youth from sexual abuse.

Don and Teresita Montoya, VIRTUS facilitators from St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Ojai, said reaction from hundreds of Spanish- and English-speaking child protection training participants has been very positive. "The majority of parents felt the training should be given to everybody," said Don.