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Safeguarding Policy Statement
 
"The Catholic Church in Scotland is concerned with the lives, safety, wholeness and well-being of each individual person within God's purpose everywhere.
​It seeks to safeguard the welfare of people of all ages who are involved in whatever capacity with the Church and its organisations.
​As a Church community, we accept that it is the responsibility of all of us, ordained, professed, paid and voluntary members, to work together to prevent physical, sexual, emotional abuse or neglect of children, young people and adults at risk."
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​'Awareness and Safety in our Catholic Communities'
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St. Joseph's Safeguarding Coordinators:  Mrs. Anne McKelvie, Mrs Sheena Savage
To contact one of the parish Safeguarding co-ordinators please email: stjoseph.helensburgh-psc@rcag.org.uk
Further information about Safeguarding in the Archdiocese of Glasgow  or email: safeguardingadministrator@rcag.org.uk
​For further information and a range of contacts, please refer to the website of the Scottish Catholic Safeguarding Service
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Annual Safeguarding Statement 2024/25

Our annual Safeguarding Statement is read out around the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels which this year falls on the 2nd of October.


In echoing this spirit of guardianship, we would like to remind you of our obligation to ensure that our parish communities are safe and welcoming places, where children and vulnerable adults are protected.


Safeguarding concerns every one of us: our clergy, faith communities and lay people who all strive to embed our safeguarding practices into our Church. These procedures are designed to help us all create and maintain a safe culture.


Safe recruitment practices ensure that volunteers only start their ministry once a series of suitability checks have been completed, including a Protection of Vulnerable Groups, or PVG, check where appropriate.


We have reporting measures so that concerns can be passed on. Our Mandatory Reporting Policy is designed to ensure that any allegations of abuse are reported to the police.


Finally, safeguarding training ensures that volunteers, group leaders and Parish Safeguarding Coordinators know what to do if a safeguarding situation arises.


Whilst statutory procedures such as PVG checks are an essential and mandatory part of our protocols, adopting a culture of care is equally important – being vigilant, looking out for each other, and passing on any concerns.


Archbishop Nolan wishes to express his sincere thanks to our clergy, parish safeguarding coordinator(s), group leaders, and volunteers; as we work together to ensure that our people, places and activities are safe.


Full details of safeguarding staff for the Archdiocese can be found on the safeguarding page at rcag.org.uk which is the Archdiocesan website; and there is a poster at the back of this church with both the Parish Safeguarding Coordinator’s and the Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser’s details on it.


Please do not hesitate to make contact if you have any concerns about a safeguarding matter, no matter how small.

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Healing of the Blind Man

In many commentaries on this passage in the gospel of John the writers  focus on the themes of light and dark, seeing and not seeing. It is easy to understand why. Those are two major themes throughout the book of John, and it’s seen so clearly here. And they’re beautiful metaphors. They have their place and time.

But there’s more to this story than just a brilliant use of metaphor and some dramatic irony. Instead, there’s also an important message here about listening and stories.

In this story, Jesus gives sight to a man who was born blind. At the beginning of the story, when Jesus and his disciples meet the blind man, they ask Jesus why this man was born blind. They want to know: What were the reasons—the causes—behind this man’s impairment? Who is to blame? The disciples want to know whether it was the sin of the man himself or his parents, or someone else in his family that led to his blindness. While that may seem like an odd question to us today, In first-century Palestine, it actually made a lot of sense. It was understood that impairment was a punishment from God because of a person’s sins.

Jesus, though, is uninterested in fully answering their questions. He barely gives those questions the time of day. Jesus is uninterested in finding fault and pointing fingers. It’s hard to see that in our Bibles, but in the Greek, it’s much clearer.  Our English translations say that he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.  But it doesn’t actually say that in Greek: that little phrase—the “so that” was added  later into translations.

 

According to scholars, it could actually be translated as something like this:

As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth.  His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned. [FULLSTOP] In order that God’s works might be revealed in him, we must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work.”

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As we can see here, Jesus isn’t concerned with the “Why?” of the situation. Instead, Jesus is concerned with the reality of the situation. He’s concerned with the person standing in front of him. In his refusal to go into the details of how and why this man is blind, Jesus is actually doing something else. He is sneakily asking a better question. Instead of “Why” or “How come?” Jesus asks, “what now?” He asks, “In the face of this reality, what now? What can I do in the here and now to support and love the person before me?”

 

The technicalities of the disciples’ nitty gritty theological questions are not, at this moment, important. Following down that line of questioning will only get us lost in the weeds and cause us to ignore those in our midst who demand our attention. Jesus’ response, while not a question itself, helps point us to what’s really important—to our neighbours—and nudges us towards asking questions about who they are instead of what they are.

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But after Jesus cures the man, those who had known him just as the “blind beggar” are only interested in the “Why?” and the “How?” They started hounding him with all sorts of questions. Are you that same guy we’ve known for so long? What happened to you? How did this happen?? Do your parents know about this? Is this real, or are you just messing with us? And question after question, he tells them the same thing. He says, “The man named Jesus cured me; I was blind, but now I see. And that’s all there is to say!” He must have been exasperated by answering the same question over and over and over again. Verse 27 is the best example of this. You can just hear his frustration coming off the page. Verse 27 says:

They asked him how it happened, and “He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?”

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In this season of Lent, in this season of spiritual spring cleaning, we are called to ask ourselves those same questions posed to those Pharisees. So , let us ask ourselves: Who’s story are we not listening to? Who’s witness are we ignoring? What are the questions we should be asking? Do we have the vision—the imagination—to see the unexpected ways God is working in the world in and through our neighbours?

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Let us pray that during this Lenten season, may we tend to our own stories and the stories of others. Because God has given each of us a story—each of us is a witness—may we listen as Jesus listened. May we ask better questions. May we listen with empathy and compassion to the stories of our neighbours. May we recognize the preciousness of those stories.  And may we be sensitive to how God has worked and is currently working in the lives of our neighbours.

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Adapted from Sarah R. Mayer, Calvary Baptist Church in Hopewell, NJ.

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