Dear Parents,

I have just come from the opening Mass of our parish school as we begin the school year. What a joy to see the energy and enthusiasm of the students on this day of new beginnings. Today is also the Feast of St. Monica, which reminds us of the extraordinarily powerful prayers of a mother! In order to be certain that all parents receive this letter, it will be sent both electronically and by physical mail.

The current circumstances in which we find ourselves as a Church make it more urgent than ever that we renew for you our commitment to ensure that in our schools and religious education programs we are doing everything we can to create a safe environment for your children. Once again, I reiterate that:

1. Our diocese immediately reports all allegations of any kind of abuse or neglect of children to appropriate legal authorities.
2. No priest or deacon against whom a substantiated claim of abuse has been made is currently serving in active ministry in our diocese.
3. Since 2002, every allegation of sexual abuse on the part of clergy has been investigated by our Diocesan Review Board, which from its very beginning has always been comprised of a majority of laymen and laywomen.

Further, a revamped landing page on our diocesan website (www.ArlingtonDiocese.org/Child- Protection ) provides information and links to:

• Diocesan policies that have been in place since 2002 to insure the protection of children and that provide a process for handling allegations of sexual abuse on the part of clergy.
• Bishop Burbidge’s public statements and podcasts in which he has addressed these sensitive issues.

On behalf of all of the priests serving here at St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, I assure you of the personal commitment of each one of us to strive daily to be faithful to the commitments we have made never to harm and only to protect and care for the safety and security of the children and young people of our parish and Church.

Let us together continue to pray for the safety and security of our children, for the healing of victims of abuse, and that we might do all that we can to ensure that the wrong-doing and the evil of the past are never repeated in the future.

Sincerely in Christ

Reverend John Mosimann, Pastor