Our Parishes

Two Parishes. One Catholic Community.

Sacred Heart and St. James the Greater serve the Catholic communities of Prince George and Hopewell, Virginia. Though each parish has its own history, traditions, and character, together we share one Catholic faith and a common mission to worship God, grow as disciples of Jesus Christ, serve our neighbors, and welcome all who seek a home in our Catholic community.

We invite you to learn more about each of our parishes and, most importantly, to come worship with us.

Safe Environment Program-VIRTUS

VIRTUS, "Protecting God's Children for Adults" is a child sexual abuse prevention program selected used in the Diocese of Richmond in accordance with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop's Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. 

The VIRTUS program assists the Church in being a safe haven for children and a messenger for preventing child sexual abuse within the Church and society in general. We seek to achieve this lofty goal through our child sexual abuse prevention program: Protecting God’s Children. 

All VIRTUS training programs are comprehensive and multi-dimensional—incorporating proven best practice standards for the prevention of child sexual abuse by clergy, staff, volunteers, and others who interact with children within the church environment. Our training programs incorporate instructor-led training, train-the-facilitator education, awareness videos, and ongoing web-based training through online training bulletins and training modules via our VIRTUS Online system.

VIRTUS Training begins by making adults that interact with children aware of how to protect children. This Protecting God’s Children program for adults is a three-hour live awareness session instructing adults of the Church that to protect children you must have continuous awareness and vigilance. This awareness session makes trainees understand the signs of child sexual abuse, the methods and means by which offenders commit abuse, and five empowerment steps one can use to prevent child sexual abuse. 

If you are planning on becoming a volunteer in our parishes the VIRTUS training is a requirement from the Diocese. We also encourage all adults to participate in the VIRTUS training program. It is a vital resource for ALL adults over the age of 18!  To sign up for the training, please go to www.virtus.org 

VIRTUS reminds all of us of some very important guidelines here at our parish:’

VIRTUS Facilitator (English & Spanish): 

Contact your parish office for more intformation

At Our Catholic Cluster Parishes we MUST comply with the following:

• Children under 12 years of age are NOT allowed to be in classrooms, church property, offices, playgrounds, church grounds (including the cemetery and Meditation Garden) restrooms, unless accompanied by a responsible adult.

• Offices, personal property, and classroom/kitchen supplies are considered “off limits” to students without adult supervision.

•  Classrooms/kitchen should not be entered when the catechist/teacher/aide/facilitator is not present.

These guidelines are for everyone’s safety and protection, so that our Parish “home” can continue to welcome everyone.