Dioceses across the country are marking National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and Cardinal Blaise Cupich and Bishop Barry Knestout are urging renewed vigilance and commitment to protecting children.
In a video message on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Cupich expressed gratitude at the bishops’ adoption of the 2002 “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,” while Nestout separately emphasized April as a time of prayer, education, and commitment to the well-being of youth.
Cupich described the bishops Enactment of the 2002 “Charter for the Protection of Children and Youth” The video featured “something important and something I’m really proud of.”
“When I look back at 50 years of being a priest and 27 years as a bishop, one of the things that happened during my time was that the Church would come together in this country to protect and defend people who are facing abuse,” the Chicago archbishop said.
“I was chair of the Committee to Protect Children and Youth, but was also involved in the moment in 2002 when we enacted the charter in Dallas,” Cupich said.
“And then, of course, when we released the study by the John Jay School of Criminal Justice, I was the chair of that committee,” he said.
“So, I think it’s an important contribution to the life of the church that I really acknowledge as an important thing and something I’m proud of,” he said.
was serving on Cupich Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Exploitation When the abuse crisis broke in 2002 he was part of the group that helped draft the charter. The ad hoc committee was established in 1993 by the then National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB), when the conference was “dealing with the subject of sexual abuse by clergy since the mid-1980s.”
2002 charter ordered creation A standing USCCB Committee on Safeguarding Children and Youth, which Cupich led from 2008 to 2011.
call for vigilance
“To protect children and youth from abuse, it is important for all of us who work with or serve youth to remain vigilant in our efforts to protect and educate them,” Knestout, who serves as chair of the committee, told EWTN News.
“This annual reminder to refocus and refocus our attention on the physical, intellectual, and spiritual well-being of youth is also an important reminder that, as we continue to walk with survivors in their healing, we are called to continual improvement,” he said.
Knestout said that each April, dioceses are called to observe National Child Abuse Prevention Month “by praying for survivors and their families.”
Bishop Barry Knestout. | Credit: Photo courtesy of the Archdiocese of Washington
“We do it in different ways, like at Mass, or with a special rosary with these intentions,” he said. “Safeguarding children and young people is an important part of the Church’s ongoing ministry throughout the year, but April provides us with an opportunity for our Diocesan Safe Environment Office to share information about our child protection practices with people across the Diocese, ensuring it remains a core value for our ministry.”
of USCCB poster The message from the Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection for the National Child Abuse Prevention Month 2026 includes “Every child matters – make a difference” as well as “Let’s stand up for children!” Contains messages like. and “Learn how we can keep all children safe.”
