Office of Child Advocacy, Implementation and Oversight

Deacon Rizzuto to head new child protection office

This announcement appeared in an article written by Lisa Gentes that appeared in the September 13, 2002 issue of the Pilot.

Deacon Anthony Rizzuto poses his wife, Joyce (left) and two daughters Karen and Alexis.

Deacon Anthony Rizzuto has been named director of the newly established Office of Child Advocacy, Implementation and Oversight. The appointment to the newly created cabinet level position was made by Cardinal Bernard Law and is expected to be made official this week. The office will be located at the Cardinal’s Residence in Brighton.

Cardinal Law is expected to announce the appointment in a letter to all of the parishes and institutions of the archdiocese. Deacon Rizzuto will send a letter to all of the schools, parishes, clergy and laity of the archdiocese informing the community of his new appointment.

“I am grateful that Deacon Rizzuto has accepted this new position,” the cardinal stated. “I have all confidence in him and know that the experience, competence and skills which he brings to this important assignment will serve the archdiocese well in the future.”

The Malden native and married father of five, and grandfather of two, most recently worked for the archdiocese as the director of the Catholic Cemeteries Association, Inc. His wife, Joyce, is a teacher in the archdiocese, and all five of their children attended Catholic schools.

Deacon Rizzuto received his undergraduate degree in psychology from Boston College. In the early 1970s he worked as a child psychologist and family counselor at the Greater Lynn Community Mental Health center, dealing with children who were abused and neglected. He then served at Union Hospital in Lynn as a staff child psychologist.

Deacon Rizzuto joined the United States Air Force in 1978 and served for 20 years. During that period, he earned his doctorate degree in industrial and educational psychology at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Deacon Rizzuto retired from the service three and a-half years ago as a lieutenant colonel, having brokered multinational agreements in international peacekeeping activities in Desert Storm, Desert Shield and Bosnia. After retiring from military duty, he joined the archdiocese as director of Catholic cemeteries. He was ordained a permanent deacon in 1996 and is currently assigned to the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.

Deacon Rizzuto said that as the Church crisis began to unfold, the cardinal remembered his background and asked for his help. The cardinal asked him to put programs together to educate and train the people of the archdiocese on sex abuse and ultimately to work with the Cardinal’s Commission for the Protection of Children, which the cardinal established in response to the clergy sexual abuse scandal that broke in January.

“…once the cardinal’s commission makes its final recommendations to the cardinal, he then takes their recommendation and promulgates it as policy. The job of the new office will be to implement the policy of the archdiocese that the cardinal promulgates in its entirety,” he said.

The new office will help the Office of Healing and Assistance Ministry and the delegate’s office with forming oversight and advisory committees, according to Deacon Rizzuto. The new director will be responsible for creating a group called the Implementation and Oversight Committee, to assist him directly, which will include representatives from parishes, schools, victims, parents, the Department of Social Services (DSS), the Cardinal’s Commission for the Protection of Children and the Children’s Trust Fund.

Currently, Bob Kelly, a retired regional director of DSS, is assisting Deacon Rizzuto as a consultant. The deacon is in the process of hiring more staff for the new office.

Over the last couple of months, Deacon Rizzuto has been involved with planning the implementation of child abuse training and education in schools and parishes. He said the programs will focus on adult prevention, adult training, prevention education, signs and symptoms that a child is being abused and the responsibilities of mandated reporters.

The program the archdiocese will use is called the VIRTUS program, which is run by the Catholic Risk Retention Group, according to the new director. Five representatives from each parish will undergo training sessions between October and February. Nearly 2,000 people will be trained in the adult education prevention program. The school-based program, which will also take place from October through February, will provide the curriculum for teachers to instruct their students in pre-school through grade four. Teachers will undergo training called “Talking About Touching,” and parents will receive the accompanying information through a video called “What Do I Say Now?”

Two individuals, teachers or principals, from each school will be trained under the VIRTUS program in a three-day training session, and will then go back to train their fellow teachers, employees and volunteers. The trained representatives will host parent information evenings to allow for discussion before the program will be taught to the children, Deacon Rizzuto said.

Deacon Rizzuto added that the archdiocese is in the process of evaluating a similar child abuse prevention and education program for grades five and above, which should be chosen and implemented after the younger students’ program has been enacted.

Currently, archdiocesan schools are teaching personal safety issues in religion, science and health classes. However, now the archdiocese will implement a standardized program for child safety, the director of the Office of Child Advocacy, Implementation and Oversight said.

The deacon feels that added to his professional background he brings to his new appointment his experience as a married clergyman. “As a deacon I’m committed to serving God’s Church, and I really approach this task out of love for the Church and her people, her children and her clergy.” He said all of his decisions are related to his experience as a husband and a father, which only furthers his commitment to helping parents and children.

“I’m committed to putting programs in place that are going to educate the kids about appropriate and inappropriate adult behavior towards them, and to give them tools and knowledge so that they can voice and report inappropriate contact,” Deacon Rizzuto said.

“I certainly ask for people to pray for us as we move forward and I’m counting on their support,” he stated. “Now is the time to step forward.”

Copyright © 2007 Archdiocese of Boston; all rights reserved