The Diocese of Worcester, Mass., has issued its code of conduct for priests and church employees. From now on, physical conduct with youth will be limited to high-fives and handshakes. (So is hugging adults okay?)
I guess you can’t disagree that such codes are now necessary because some bishops failed to properly deal with predators, but it’s a sad day when you have to tell children they can no longer give their pastor or even religious education teacher a hug, or when putting your arm around a grieving child could be grounds for termination.
We’re a society that is building smothering cocoons around our children. We’ve already told them to be suspicious of every adult. What a world we’re creating.
