Over the past year, the Office of Safe Environments has conducted extensive research and determined that,in the State of Michigan, fingerprinting represents the gold standard, not only a prescreening tool but also as a continuous monitoring system to ensure that individuals in positions of trust (especially those workingwith our children and vulnerable populations) meet the highest safety standards. This approach is widely adopted by organizations such as the Michigan High School Athletic Association and all Detroit Catholic Schools for teachers and staff.

Fingerprinting will be a one-time requirement (unless there is a break in service of 12 months or more) and will utilize the FBI “rapback” system to monitor any criminal history nationwide.

From an administrative perspective, this change will eliminate the need for Local Administrators (for Safe Environments) at our parishes and schools to conduct annual background checks, freeing time for ministry and reducing the burden of having to store large volumes of paper records at each parish site.

Any individual who is directly working with children and/or vulnerable adults within theArchdiocese of Detroit will eventually need to be fingerprinted. We started with our priests, successfully fingerprinting over 150 priests during the January 14–16, 2026 Pastorate Discernment Modeling Sessions at Sacred Heart Seminary. The remainder of priests will be fingerprinted in the coming months. In February 2026, all employees of Curia were fingerprinted. We are actively fingerprinting all parish employees and deacons. From there, we will focus on the volunteers who are heavily involved withour vulnerable populations, such as parent volunteers at schools, catechists, volunteer coaches, and youth ministers.

This initiative is being led by Archbishop Weisenburger. It is a top priority that the Archdiocese of Detroit be recognized as a leader in upholding the gold standard of safety for our children and vulnerable adults. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops established the Dallas Charter in 2002 to create a united approach for all dioceses nationwide to implement protective measures and foster the safest environments within the Church. This fingerprinting initiative continues with that commitment, reinforcing ourdedication to safeguarding those entrusted to our care.

The Archdiocese of Detroit created an endowment to assist with the cost of the fingerprint initiative. Whilethese funds will not cover everyone, they will significantly offset the overall cost. As of right now, all priests, parish employees, and deacons will be 100% covered by the Archdiocese of Detroit. It is anticipated that for our first round of volunteers, we will be able to offset the cost considerably. What will be the key factor for us is how many parishes or schools will have their own machines or opt to have a third-party vendor come to their site and fingerprint everyone. We will be addressing the parishes through webinars on how to successfully set them up to have this established in their surrounding area in the months to come.

The Archdiocese of Detroit has purchased four fingerprinting machines. From now until January 2027 a small group of Curia employees will be traveling regularly with the machines to the best locations to assist our parishes and schools. We anticipate that this option will be made publicly available for volunteers beginning the first week of August. Please note: Due to budgeting limitations, the Archdiocese of Detroit will be prioritizing fingerprinting volunteers on a needs basis and will work closely with parishes and schools to determined which areas we will be serving first.

From January 2027 on three of the fingerprinting machines will live on-site at a parish or school in three separate regions where volunteers or employees will have regular access to get fingerprinted. Availability of those locations will be forthcoming.

The short answer is yes. Many of you, over the course of your lifetime and for various reasons, may have had fingerprints collected. The Archdiocese of Detroit does not have administrative privileges from the state of Michigan to access previously provided fingerprints, and consequently, we must require that afresh set be submitted. Michigan law prevents the disclosure & sharing of criminal justice information from the LEIN (Law Enforcement Information Network).

1. You will need a valid form of identification (a valid Driver’s license, a state ID or a Passport)
2. You will need to complete these two forms.