Do you think it is fair to the kids illegal Catholics can volunteer with children without background checks?
Written by admin on October 15th, 2009
Los Angeles Diocesan Screenings for Abusers Give Slack to Undocumented
In L.A. and O.C., illegal immigrant Catholics can volunteer with children without background checks because they lack the required ID.
By Jennifer Delson, LA Times Staff Writer
June 22, 2006
Not wanting to lose illegal immigrant volunteers, the Los Angeles and Orange Roman Catholic dioceses have quietly backed away from a pledge to root out pedophiles by running fingerprint background checks on anyone who works with children.
The revamped policy in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles allows church volunteer candidates without government-issue identification to give instead a sworn affidavit stating that they have not been convicted of any crime. In Orange, potential volunteers without photo IDs can submit a sworn affidavit and two letters of reference attesting to their character.
Church leaders said background checks of illegal immigrants are virtually impossible without government photo identification, and the church stood to lose a small army of volunteers in heavily Latino parishes unless the photo ID requirement was dropped.
Those who don’t have background checks are allowed to work with children, but only under supervision, church officials said.
The policies, revamped last year and recently uncovered by The Times, outraged victim advocates who said the dioceses are putting concern for illegal immigrants before the protection of children.
“It’s scary. I didn’t know they were doing this,” said Rita Milla, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles-area Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. “They are just trying to be too politically correct, even though it means putting the kids at risk. If someone can’t prove who they are, they shouldn’t be volunteering.”http://www.snapnetwork.org/news/calif/screening_for_abusers.htm
October 17th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Despicable! Isn’t it these same guy’s that demand everyone ****** out as many kids as possible, there by creating the problem in the first place?
October 18th, 2009 at 1:00 am
I think it isn’t fair to the kids that nobody but illegal immigrants want to volunteer in church!!!!!!
and since most people rather spend their time pointing out how evil illegal immigrants are….. instead of volunteering their time with their children…… it comes as no surprise that illegally immigrants are again doing the job that most Americans don’t want to do!!!!!!
October 18th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
Translation: If you are illegal, we don’t want to know because it would make us culpable. But you can work with kids and we won’t check your records.
October 19th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Put your hands up , and slowly BACK AWAY from the Catholic church…..
Didn’t the pedophile priests teach you anything??