Priests, deacons, pastoral ministers, administrators, staff, and volunteers in our parishes, religious communities/institutions, and organizations must uphold Christian values and conduct. The Code of Pastoral Conduct for Priests, Deacons, Pastoral Ministers, Administrators, Staff, and Volunteers (Code of Pastoral Conduct) provides a set of standards for conduct in certain pastoral situations.

 

As ministerial leaders in the Catholic Church, those who serve within our parishes and institutions, whether employees or volunteers, need to recognize not only that they must always seek to uphold Christian values and conduct but also that they occupy positions of trust. In addition to following the Gospel and its mandates, it is expected that they will act properly at all times in the light of contemporary society and its needs.

 

The public and private conduct of clergy, staff, and volunteers can inspire and motivate people, but it can also scandalize and undermine the people’s faith. Clergy, staff, and volunteers must, at all times, be aware of the responsibilities that accompany their work. They must also know that God’s goodness and grace supports them in their ministry.

 

Responsibility for adherence to the Code of Pastoral Conduct rests with the individual. Clergy, staff, and volunteers who disregard this Code of Pastoral Conduct will be subject to remedial action by the Metropolitan-Archbishop, parish priest, the religious community/institutions, or the school. Corrective action may take various forms—from a verbal reproach to removal from the ministry—depending on the specific nature and circumstances of the offense and the extent of the harm.

 

 

Pastoral Counselors and Spiritual Directors must respect the rights and advance the welfare of each person.

 

1.1 Pastoral Counselors and Spiritual Directors shall not step beyond their competence in counseling situations and shall refer clients to other professionals when appropriate.

 

1.2 Pastoral Counselors and Spiritual Directors should carefully consider the possible consequences before entering into a counseling relationship with someone with whom they have a pre-existing relationship (i.e., employee, professional colleague, friend, or other pre-existing relationship). [See Section 7.2.2]

 

1.3 Pastoral Counselors and Spiritual Directors should not audiotape or videotape sessions.

 

1.4 Pastoral Counselors and Spiritual Directors must never engage in sexual intimacies with the persons they counsel. This includes consensual and nonconsensual contact, forced physical contact, and inappropriate sexual comments.

 

1.5 Pastoral Counselors and Spiritual Directors shall not engage in sexual intimacies with individuals who are close to the client—such as relatives or friends of the client—when there is a risk of exploitation or potential harm to the client. Pastoral Counselors and Spiritual Directors should presume that the potential for exploitation or harm exists in such intimate relationships.

 

1.6 Pastoral Counselors and Spiritual Directors assume the full burden of responsibility for establishing and maintaining clear and appropriate boundaries in all counseling and counseling-related relationships.

 

1.7 Physical contact of any kind (i.e., touching, hugging, holding) between Pastoral Counselors or Spiritual Directors and the persons they counsel can be misconstrued and should be avoided.

 

1.8.1 No sessions should be conducted in private living quarters.

 

1.8.2 Sessions should not be held at places or times that would tend to cause

confusion about the nature of the relationship for the person being counseled.

 

1.9 Pastoral Counselors and Spiritual Directors shall maintain a log of the times and places of sessions with each person being counseled.

 

 

 

Information disclosed to a Pastoral Counselor or Spiritual Director during the course of counseling, advising, or spiritual direction shall be held in the strictest confidence possible.

 

2.1 Information obtained in the course of sessions shall be confidential, except for

compelling professional reasons or as required by law.

 

2.1.1 If there is a clear and imminent danger to the client or to others, the Pastoral Counselor or Spiritual Director may disclose only the information necessary to protect the parties affected and to prevent harm.

 

2.1.2 Before disclosure is made, if feasible, the Pastoral Counselor or Spiritual Director should inform the person being counseled about the disclosure and the potential consequences.

 

2.2 Pastoral Counselors and Spiritual Directors should discuss the nature of

confidentiality and its limitations with each person being counseled.

 

2.3 Pastoral Counselors and Spiritual Directors should keep minimal records of the

content of the sessions.

 

2.4 Knowledge that arises from professional contact may be used in teaching, writing,

homilies, or other public presentations only when effective measures are taken to

absolutely safeguard both the individual’s identity and the confidentiality of the

disclosures.

 

2.5 While counseling a minor, if a Pastoral Counselor or Spiritual Director discovers

that there is a serious threat to the welfare of the minor and that communication of

confidential information to a parent or legal guardian is essential to the child’s

health and well-being, the Counselor or Spiritual Director should:

 

- Attempt to secure written consent from the minor for the specific disclosure.

 

- If consent is not given, disclose only that information necessary to protect the health and well-being of the minor.

 

Consultation with the appropriate Church supervisory personnel is required before disclosure.

 

Clergy, staff, and volunteers working with youth shall maintain an open and trustworthy relationship between youth and adult supervisors.

 

3.1 Clergy, staff, and volunteers must be aware of their own and others’ vulnerability

when working alone with youth. Use a team approach in managing youth activities.

 

3.2 Physical contact with youth can be misconstrued and should occur (a) only when

completely nonsexual and otherwise appropriate, and (b) never in private.

 

3.3 Clergy, staff, and volunteers shall refrain from (a) the illegal possession and/or

illegal use of drugs and/or alcohol at all times, and (b) the use of alcohol when working with youth.

 

3.4 Clergy should not allow individual young people to stay overnight in the cleric’s

private accommodations or residence.

 

3.5 Staff and volunteers should not provide shared, private, overnight accommodation for individual young people including, but not limited to, accommodations in any Church-owned facility, private residence, hotel room, or any other place where there is no other adult supervision present.

 

3.5.1 In rare emergency situations, when some accommodation is necessary for the health and well-being of the youth, the clergy, staff, or volunteer should take extraordinary care to protect all parties from the appearance of impropriety and from all risk of harm.

 

3.5.2 Use a team approach in managing emergency situations.

 

 

 

 

Clergy, staff, and volunteers must never exploit the trust placed in them by the faith community.

 

4.1 Clergy, religious, staff, and volunteers who are committed to a celibate lifestyle are called to be an example of celibate chastity in all relationships at all times. Clergy, religious, staff, and volunteers who are married are called to be an example of marital fidelity in all relationships at all times.

 

4.2 Clergy, staff and volunteers who provide pastoral counseling or spiritual direction services must avoid developing inappropriately intimate relationships with minors, other staff, or parishioners. Staff and volunteers must behave in a professional manner at all times.

 

4.3 No clergy, staff, or volunteer may exploit another person for sexual purposes.

 

4.4 Allegations of sexual misconduct shall be taken seriously and reported to the

Designated Person within the Eparchy and to civil authorities if the situation

involves a minor.

 

The policy of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Chicago will be followed to protect the rights of all involved.

 

4.5 Clergy, staff, and volunteers shall review and know the contents of the child abuse

laws and reporting requirements of their state and shall follow those mandates.

 

Clergy, staff, and volunteers shall not engage in physical, psychological, written, or verbal harassment of staff, volunteers, or parishioners and must not tolerate such harassment by other Church staff or volunteers.

 

5.1 Clergy, staff, and volunteers shall provide a professional work environment that is

free from physical, psychological, written, or verbal intimidation or harassment.

 

5.2 Harassment encompasses a broad range of physical, written, or verbal behavior,

including but not limited to the following:

 

- Physical or mental abuse.

- Racial insults.

- Derogatory ethnic slurs.

- Unwelcome sexual advances or touching.

- Sexual comments or sexual jokes.

- Requests for sexual favors for any reason, including

- a condition of employment, or

- to affect other personnel decisions, such as promotion or compensation.

- Display of offensive materials.

 

5.3 Harassment can be a single severe incident or a persistent pattern of behavior

where the purpose or the effect is to create a hostile, offensive, or intimidating work environment.

 

5.4 Allegations of harassment must be taken seriously and reported immediately to the

appropriate person in the parish, community/institution, eparchy, or organization.

 

 

The policy of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Chicago will be followed to protect the rights of all involved.

Confidentiality will be maintained in creating, storing, accessing, transferring, and disposing of parish, religious community/institution, or organizational records.

 

6.1 Sacramental records shall be regarded as confidential. When compiling and

publishing parish, religious community/institution, or organizational statistical information obtained through these records, great care must be taken to preserve the anonymity of individuals.

 

6.2 Most sacramental records older than 70 years are open to the public.

 

6.2.1 Information regarding adoption and legitimacy remains confidential, regardless

of age.

 

6.2.2 Only staff members who are authorized to access the records and supervise

their use shall handle requests for more recent records.

 

6.3 Financial records of parish, religious community/institution, or organizations are

confidential unless review is required by the Eparchy or the appropriate government agency. Consult the Chancellor or the Chief Financial Officer of the Eparchy upon receipt of any request for release of financial records.

 

6.4 Individual contribution records of the parish, religious community/institution, or

organization shall be regarded as private and shall be maintained in the strictest of confidences.

 

 

Clergy, staff, contract professional workers, and volunteers should avoid situations that might present a conflict of interest. Even the appearance of a conflict of interest can call integrity and professional conduct into question.

 

7.1 Clergy, staff, contract professional workers and volunteers should disclose all relevant factors that potentially could create a conflict of interest.

 

7.2 Clergy, staff, contract professional workers and volunteers shall inform all parties when a real or potential conflict of interest arises. Resolution of the issues must protect the person receiving ministry services.

 

7.2.1 No clergy, staff, contract professional worker or volunteer should take advantage of anyone to whom they are providing services in order to further their personal, religious, political,

or business interests.

 

7.2.2 Pastoral counselors should not provide counseling services to anyone with

whom they have a business, professional, or social relationship. When this is

unavoidable, the client must be protected. The counselor must establish and

maintain clear and appropriate boundaries.

 

7.2.3 When pastoral counseling or spiritual direction services are provided to two or

more people who have a relationship with each other, the Pastoral Counselor

or Spiritual Director must:

 

- Clarify with all parties the nature of each relationship,

- Anticipate any conflict of interest,

- Obtain from all parties written consent to continue services.

 

7.3 Conflicts of interest may also arise when a Pastoral Counselor’s or Spiritual

Director’s independent judgment is impaired by:

 

- Prior dealings,

- Becoming personally involved, or

- Becoming an advocate for one (person) against another.

 

In these circumstances, the Pastoral Counselor or Spiritual Director shall advise the parties that he or she can no longer provide services and refer them to another Pastoral Counselor or Spiritual Director.

 

 

Clergy, staff, contract professional workers and volunteers have a duty to report their own ethical or professional misconduct and the misconduct of others.

 

8.1 Clergy, staff, contract professional workers and volunteers must hold each other accountable for maintaining the highest ethical and professional standards. When there is an indication of illegal actions by clergy, staff, or volunteers, you should notify the proper civil authorities immediately. Also notify the Chancellor or Bishop.

 

8.2 When an uncertainty exists about whether a situation or course of conduct violates this Code of Pastoral Conduct or other religious, moral, or ethical principles, consult with:

- Peers,

- Others knowledgeable about ethical issues, or

- The Chancery office.

8.3 When it appears that a member of the clergy, a staff member, contract professional worker or a volunteer has violated this Code of Pastoral Conduct or other religious, moral, or ethical principles:

 

- Report the issue to a supervisor or the next higher authority, or

- Refer the matter directly to the Chancery office.

8.4 The obligation of Pastoral Counselors and Spiritual Directors to report client misconduct is subject to the duty of confidentiality. However, any agreement or duty to maintain confidentiality must yield to the need to report misconduct that threatens the safety, health, or well-being of any of the persons involved, except as provided for in Section 2.6

 

 

Employers and supervisors shall treat clergy, staff, and volunteers justly in the day-to-day administrative operations of their ministries.

 

9.1 Personnel and other administrative decisions made by clergy, staff, contract professional worker, and volunteers shall meet civil and canon law obligations and also reflect Catholic social teachings and this Code of Pastoral Conduct.

 

9.2 No clergy, staff, contract professional worker, or volunteer shall use his or her position to exercise unreasonable or inappropriate power and authority.

 

9.3 Each volunteer providing services to children and youth must read and sign the Volunteer Code of Conduct before providing services.

 

 

Clergy, staff, and volunteers have the duty to be responsible for their own spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional health.

 

10.1 Clergy, staff, and volunteers should be aware of warning signs that indicate

potential problems with their own spiritual, physical, mental, and/or emotional

10.2 Clergy, staff, and volunteers should seek help immediately whenever they notice

behavioral or emotional warning signs in their own professional and/or personal

lives.

 

10.3 Clergy, staff, and volunteers must address their own spiritual needs. Support from a

Spiritual Director is highly recommended.

 

10.4 Inappropriate or illegal use of alcohol and drugs is prohibited.

 

 

u Avoid situations where I am alone with children and/or youth.

u Never touch a child and/or youth in a sexual or other inappropriate manner.

u Immediately report any suspicion of abuse of a child to the pastor, principal, or immediate supervisor as well as the local office of a Child Protective Services agency whose telephone numbers have been distributed during training.

u Do not allow any minors to reside in or to be an overnight guest in a rectory unless they are members of the immediate family of the clergy.

u Do not allow minors to use any alcohol, tobacco, drugs, or illegal substance.

u Never attempt to physically discipline a child or a minor. Discipline problems should be coordinated by the immediate supervisor in consultation with the parents of the minor.

u Never be alone with a minor in a residence, sleeping facility, locker room, rest room, dressing facility, or any other isolated area that is inappropriate to a ministry relationship.

u Do not take overnight trips alone with a minor who is not a member of your family. Adult chaperones should accompany any trip involving minors.

u Do not sleep in the same bed with a minor. If an adult chaperone stays in a hotel or other sleeping facility with a group of minors, the chaperone should sleep in their own bed.

u If you discover an inappropriate attraction or attention being shown to you by a minor, maintain clear professional boundaries between yourself and the minor and report or refer the minor to another adult

u If the need should arise to have to counsel or advise a minor, avoid meeting in isolated environments. Schedule meetings at times and use locations that can create accountability. Limit the length and number or meetings and make outside referrals, if necessary. Parents and supervisors should be advised of these meetings.

u Do not drive a church or school vehicle transporting a minor unless you have received prior authorization and have the appropriate license or certification.

u Topics, vocabulary, recordings, films, games or the use of computer software or any other form of personal interaction or entertainment that could not be used comfortably in the presence of parents should not be employed with minors. Sexually explicit or pornographic material is strictly prohibited.

u Do not administer medication of any kind without written parental permission.

u Do not give minors any keys to church facilities. If the minor has a key as a result of being a church employee or volunteer, the minor should be properly screened.

u Do not permit minors to cross a road by themselves while they are in your custodial care.

u Taking photographs of minors while they are unclothed or dressing (e.g., in a locker room or bathing facility) is strictly prohibited.

u If you observe anyone (adult or minor) abusing a minor, take appropriate steps to immediately intervene and provide a safe environment for the minor. Report the misconduct.