Fr. Patrick Boland, O.S.B.

As the Safe Environment Coordinator for Subiaco I am personally committed to doing everything I can within my responsibilities to provide a safe environment for our students and any other minor on our campus. The child abuse scandal that plagues our church and country breaks my heart; children who depend on adults for academic, spiritual, psychological and emotional development, have been injured through abuses of power, authority, influence and most of all, trust.

Prior to coming to Subiaco, I was a lay campus minister at Catholic high school in Macon, GA. I was there when the clergy sex abuse scandal was made public and it was back then in 2001 that I became involved in safe environment training for adults through the VIRTUS program. Shortly after my ordination here at Subiaco in 2015, the abbot assigned me as the Safe Environment administrator for Subiaco Abbey and Academy utilizing the new CMG Connect/Circle of Grace Program that the Diocese of Little Rock had recently acquired. 

I believe the CMG Connect/Circle of Grace Program to be superior to the former VIRTUS program and I am particularly grateful for the additional, optional training modules that go beyond initial training. These additional job-specific training modules promote an environment of on-going training that supports a culture of learning and protecting our children as a way of life. The training instructs each adult how to act personally and how to identify and report inappropriate or even illegal behaviors by others when interacting with minors.

I pray that my years of experience in practicing and providing a safe environment for minors is effective in preventing any future incidents of child abuse in any form, but in particular child sexual abuse.