OMI Lacombe Canada
Launches New Safeguarding Webpage

A new section on the OMI Lacombe Canada website entitled “Safeguarding” is now available. The page will give easy access to those looking for information on the steps taken by OMI Lacombe Canada to ensure the safe and ethical practice of our ministry. A copy of the Safeguarding Minors and Vulnerable Adults policy will be available for download. Those who want to talk about abuse, either their own or that of someone else, are offered a toll-free number (or email address) to contact a non-Oblate counsellor who will provide a sounding board for their concerns.

If there is imminent danger of a Minor being abused, counsellors are mandated by Canadian law to contact legal authorities. In all other cases, the counsellor’s role will be to assist the caller to express his/her concerns, but not to enter into a long-term therapeutic relationship.

Some may be concerned lest the webpage invite spurious claims; however, it is a pastoral approach, encouraging people to share their pain. Inviting people to be open about past wounds is a very different path than the legal process necessary were a claimant to press for compensation.

In setting up this page, we are not being innovative; a quick check of many diocesan websites reveals they are ahead of us in taking this important step toward greater transparency.

We invite you to take a few minutes to review the information and to share it with anyone who asks what the Oblate community is doing to protect the most vulnerable amongst us.  Click here to consult this page.