Protecting God's Children

If you have previously registered with VIRTUS online - even if a different diocese - do not register for a new account. Please contact Theresa Pratt ([email protected]) or the Office of Child and Youth Protection at [email protected]. 

You can create your own VIRTUS account by clicking the link below and clicking on "First Time Registrant". Follow the prompts to create your account from there.

Please designate your primary location as Saints Peter and Paul and verify you have the proper roles listed. (e.g. if you are volunteering in the parish school, Volunteer:Parochial School should be listed. If you are a catechist when you create or update your VIRTUS account, make sure you designate Volunteer: Religious Education or Youth Ministry for your primary role, etc.) The dashboard/homepage of your VIRTUS account will highlight any areas you need to complete; you can complete nearly all of the required items though your VIRTUS account. Upon your next login you will be asked to complete those items before doing anything else in your account. 

It is important that you complete the assigned training within 30 days of initiating your account or the account will be deleted by the Diocese. 

Virtus Online

After you create your account you should immediately be prompted and taken through that process to submit your acknowledgement form for reading two documents. 

1. Policy Regarding Sexual Abuse of Minors (revised 2023)
2. Standards of Behavior for Those Working with Minors (revised 2023)

Every potential volunteer and all members of staff across the diocese are required to participate in a Protecting God's Children Workshop, currently being offered online. Information is provided when you log into your account. 

You must complete the online Protecting God's Children workshop within 30 days of establishing your VIRTUS account or your account will automatically become inactivated. 

Finally you should be prompted to submit your background check through Fastrax.

Virtus should automatically take you to the secure Fastrax site where you can follow the given prompts in order to complete this task. (Please note that your social security number is NOT needed for the background check. this field will be pre-filled with 999-99-9999 and should be left as is.) Once submitted, Background Checks need to be pushed through by the local administrator. Contact Theresa Pratt to complete your background check. 

In January 2020, Illinois began requiring all volunteer teachers to take online Mandated Reporter Training to learn to look for signs of child abuse and to report them. This training is automatically prompted through the VIRTUS website for new catechists as they sign on and complete their PGC training.  Employees and any ongoing catechists, youth helpers and classroom aides, or volunteers with youth whether serving in-person or virtually, will need to complete this training from DCFS. Again, this is a State of Illinois requirement. You can learn more about the new law here. 

DCFS Mandated Reporter Training Includes:
1.     A pre-training assessment (13 multiple-choice questions)
2.     60-90 minutes of self-paced interactive training
3.     A post-training assessment (13 multiple-choice questions)
4.     A Certificate of Completion

DCFS Mandated Reporter Training webpage

IMPORTANT! After Completing Your Training: The  DCFS Mandated Reporter Acknowledgement Form must be submitted to the PGC Administrator to complete this portion of your PGC requirements as it must be entered manually into your account to show completion. Forms can be submitted to the parish office or sent to [email protected].

All adults in a recurring volunteer role with children must complete an APPLICATION. Submit the application to the person in charge of the activity for which you are volunteering so that the references can be checked. The application will then go the the Adminsitrator to be logged into your acount.