The Eparchial Review Board on the Implementation of Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People Held Its Consecutive Meeting

The Review Board of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of St. Josaphat in Parma on the implementation of the USCCB Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People held its consecutive meeting on Thursday, May 12, 2022 at the parish hall of Sts. Peter & Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church in Ambridge, PA.

The meeting was attended by three of the current six Review Board members: Fr. Lubomyr Zhybak, eparchy’s Safe Environment Coordinator and pastor of Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church in Youngstown, OH and St. Anne Ukrainian Catholic Church in Austintown, OH; Marika Zalisczuk, eparchy’s Victim Assistance Coordinator; and Olga Perkun (the following board members could not attend the meeting due to personal reasons: Fr. Michael Polosky, eparchy’s Protosyncellus and Pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church in Ambridge, PA and Sts. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church in Aliquippa, PA; Dr. Justine Perhosky, PhD; and Don Fontana).

The meeting began with prayers, led by Fr. Zhybak, after which the board members considered the current issues vis-à-vis the safe environment in the eparchy (despite that some board members were missing at the meeting, all members received electronically from Fr. Zhybak beforehand the materials vis-à-vis some of the matters discussed at the meeting that everyone could review and comment on). During the course of meeting, among other matters, the eparchy’s Policy & Procedures for the Protection of Children and Young People was reviewed (the document was last promulgated by the Eparch of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of St. Josaphat in Parma, Bishop Bohdan J. Danylo, on May 7, 2022). A few more revisions to the Policy and Procedures were recommended that will be forwarded to Bishop Danylo for review. Moreover, the updated guidelines were also reviewed regarding the safe environment training and background clearance requirements in the eparchy. Besides the eparchy-wide VIRTUS online training, the guidelines deal specifically with each state within the jurisdiction of St. Josaphat Eparchy. Fr. Zhybak also informed the present board members that the eparchy’s triannual onsite audit by Stonebridge Business Partners has been scheduled for the week of October 3^rd of this year. The meeting was adjourned with prayers led by Fr. Zhybak.

Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of St. Josaphat in Parma