November 4, 2025

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

NEW: Educate The Educator: A Webinar On How To Equip Our Teachers, Dre, & Catechists On How To Successful Teach Empowering God’s Children – November 10 from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Crispin Montelione, Content Creator for VIRTUS, will also facilitate four webinars on how to better equip our educators, DRE’s, and catechists on Empowering God’s Children. She will go over the lesson plans, how to deliver the content to both children and the parents, what makes this educational program successful in your parish or school, and what to do when you receive push back. 

Register HERE. If you are not a DRE or an educator, please feel free to pass this on.

If you can’t make it to this session, we will have two more in the coming months!

NEW: Facilitator Training – January 5-9 From 9Am-12Pm – Read Here

Are you interested in becoming a Facilitator? We would love to have you! The Office of Safe Environments is now accepting applications for those who would like to facilitate. Lisa Richards and I conduct a pre-screening process to ensure we have the candidates we need to be a part of the facilitation team.  Please send your resume and cover letter to pierson.maegan@aod.org

NEW:  VIRTUS Web Browser Issues

VIRTUS sent me some step-by-step instructions for those who are having issues logging into VIRTUS on his/her browser:

• Always log in using  virtusonline.org

There are a few things that could be causing the issue:

1. Look for the security box in from of the website address. Click on it to see that the network is secure.
2. It is possible that there is a firewall on your device that is preventing the video from playing correctly and submitting the question answer.
3. The cache and cookies need to be deleted from the computer that is being used and then restarted.

Solutions:

1. Log out of VIRTUS.
2. Go into your computer settings and clear out any cache and cookies.
3. Restart/ Reboot the computer.
4. Open a new internet browser, a suggestion is to use a different browser. Ex: If you used Google Chrome before, try using Safari.
5. Log into www.virtusonline.org

 They are always welcome to call the VIRTUS Help Desk if they need further assistance and VIRTUS can be reached at 888-847-8870

God bless you all,

Maegan Pierson
Safe Environment Manager

RESOURCES

• Background Check Determination Status Letter for Felonies
• Background Check Determination Status Letter for DUI’s
• Fair Credit Reporting Act
• Empowering God’s Children Opt-Out Form
• Empowering God’s Children Opt-Out Form (Spanish)
• Teaching Boundaries and Safety Guide
• Teaching Boundaries and Safety Guide
  (Spanish)
• Record Retention Policy
• Newsletter Archives