A woman has to be fingerprinted for a background check so she can teach a religious education class. This is not unusual in and of itself. However, this woman is 83-years-old and has been teaching the same course at the same parish for about forty years. As reported in the Huffington Post, this mandate for a background check comes on the heels of a report from John Jay College.
A the article quotes the report as such– That is one of the messages from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, which on May 18 issuedits landmark “Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in the United States, 1950-2010.” After an intensive, wide-reaching investigation that included interviews with victims, abusers, advocacy groups and various professionals in the church and in the mental health field, John Jay researchers concluded: “The Catholic Church has taken serious steps toward understanding and reducing the problem of sexual abuse of minors by priests.” “The church has responded to the crisis, and as a result, a substantial decrease in the number of sexual abuse has come about at present,” it added.
It may appear absurd that the Parish is mandated to conduct a background check on an 83-year-old woman who has been teaching the same course for forty years. But when an employer establishes a policy then it is incumbent that every employee and candidate be subject to the same rules as everyone else. Labor laws and the FCRA compliance standards maintain that employers must be uniform in conducting background checks so that each job applicant is treated fairly.
