MERRILLVILLE – A pinwheel garden represents what we want for all children – a happy, safe and carefree childhood. It is a symbol of childhood innocence and hope, serving as a heartfelt reminder of the bright future every child deserves.
The Safe Environment Office at the Diocese of Gary has planted a pinwheel garden outside the Pastoral Center in Merrillville for the last five years in recognition of Child Abuse Prevention Month. Child Abuse Prevention Month has been observed each April since its first presidential proclamation in 1983.
“We are called through scripture and teaching to protect the life and dignity of the human person,” reminded Kathy Lafakis, diocesan safe environment coordinator. “Throughout the year, but especially in the month of April, all are asked to increase awareness, to educate ourselves and the community, and to seek healing for those who have been so tragically impacted by this.”
Each parish of the Diocese of Gary has a dedicated, trained safe environment coordinator who is responsible for ensuring a safe environment at the local parish. Everyone who works with children in the Diocese of Gary is required to comply with its safe environment program by registering in VIRTUS Online, reading the safe environment policy and procedures, submitting a background check and completing the in-person or online training module through VIRTUS. Once those steps have been completed, ongoing training is offered through monthly bulletins.
The Safe Environment Office works with the safe environment coordinators at every location within the diocese to ensure compliance, respond to questions, provide updates regarding the VIRTUS programs, and provide continuing education through an annual Safe Environment Conference where they can learn from their peers and guest speakers.
In the year 2024, over 2.8 million children were trained nationwide in Catholic dioceses and schools using the “Empowering God’s Children” program and 2.2 million adults completed background checks and were trained using the “Protecting God’s Children” program.
Last year, Bishop Robert McClory endorsed a new recertification policy focused on ensuring adults are trained in the most recent version of VIRTUS. This started with all clergy being retrained in VIRTUS version 4 in March 2025.
Kelly Venegas, chief human resources officer, said, “Our parishes and schools do so much to ensure the safety of our children that it is important to highlight that work.”
“It has been a blessing to be part of the Safe Environment ministry since 2009,” she said. “Our local safe environment coordinators do such a wonderful job ensuring our kids are safe and adults are trained.”
While there have been many changes since 1983, the Child Safety and Well-being Act of 2024 is aimed towards enhancing child safety. It includes a commission that monitors and assesses the impact of laws and policies on children.
Addressing the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors this past month in March, Pope Leo XIV encouraged their mission to ensure abuse is prevented in the Church, insisting that such responsibility must be concretely confronted, and not delegated, to build a “culture of care.”
Pope Leo recalled that Pope Francis placed the Commission permanently within the Roman Curia “to remind the whole Church that the prevention of abuse is not an optional task, but a constitutive dimension of the mission of the Church.”
