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Posters and Bulletin Inserts
- Creating a Safe Faith Environment
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Kids Need Good Fruit
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Uniquely and Specially Created
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Creating an Environment of Respect Responsibility and Caring
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Creating a Faith Environment Safe from Physical Aggression
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Creating a Trauma Sensitive Faith Environment
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Child Abuse Prevention Month in the Year of Mercy
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Calendar
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Activities and Resource List
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Creating Connections Through Safe Stable Nurturing Relationships
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Creating an Environment of Authentic Love - Posters
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Agape Love Letters
Often when we think of love letters we think of romance and passion – eros or erotic love. As Catholic Christians we are called to something more. We all share a common vocation - the Universal Call to Love and Communion. In this calling we strive to love others as Christ loved us, giving of ourselves freely and selflessly – welcoming others completely and unconditionally. This God-like love to which we are called is known as agape love. Agape love images God, it is centered in Christ, and it is enabled by the Holy Spirit. It is through our expressions of agape love that others encounter Christ. Provide an encounter with Christ’s love for someone who has experienced abuse by writing them an Agape Love Letter. Include some of the following expressions of love:
Dear Child of God,
- You are unique, special, gifted and graced – a never to be repeated wonder in all of God’s creation.
- I believe you and I love you.
- God loves you and does not desire for you to be harmed.
- The things that you experienced were not what God had planned for you and the pain you have endured is painful to Him.
- Nothing that has ever happened to you or ever will happen to you can change who you are – a beloved child of God.
- God’s plan for you was to experience only love and that is still His plan.
- God is more powerful that anyone you have ever encountered, and He loves you more than anyone you have ever known.
- I will be praying for you – for your continued protection and healing.
- May you know God’s profound love for you.
Send your letter(s) to the Diocesan Child Protection Office to be shared with individuals who access Victim Assistance services in our Diocese and throughout the country.
Diocese of Grand Island
Child Protection Office
2708 Old Fair Road
Grand Island NE 68803
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Maintaining Healthy Connections
This year we marked Child Abuse Prevention Month in the midst of a pandemic. It was a very concrete reminder of the importance of healthy boundaries. Created for relationship with God and with others, it is a great challenge for us to practice “social distancing.” We are hard-wired for connection and our well-being depends on maintaining healthy connections.
The abuse and exploitation of His precious children was never in God’s plan and is not what he desires for us. He created us for love! Because we were created for love, we were also given free will, for love is a gift that must be freely given. At times people fail to choose love, and our deep desire for love and connection makes us vulnerable to being abused (and vulnerable to the spread of viruses!).
This same desire for connection is also what helps us to be resilient in the face of abuse and suffering. Connections through safe, stable, and nurturing relationships, are protective. Whether protecting our children from a virus, protecting them from fear and anxiety, or protecting them from abuse, it is key that we establish protective boundaries, while maintaining healthy social and spiritual connections.
To prevent the spread of COVID-19, we are encouraged to maintain safe physical boundaries. It is possible to have a healthy and supportive relationship from a distance. Good relationship boundaries involve more than maintaining physical distance. (Click Here for more information on boundaries and right relationships, as well as resources to address the COVID-19 pandemic) -
Child Abuse Prevention Month 2020 "Maintaining Healthy Connections"
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