My internship at the IADC

Today we hear from Angela Pinger, a German theology student who recently served as an intern at the IADC.

As the IADC is a very young institute, I was pretty clueless as to what I would do as an intern there. But all my doubts quickly disappeared when I met the professional team of the IADC, especially Msgr. Beer and Dr. Campo, who were my internship instructors. Never tired of ideas, they gave me opportunities to learn about their concept of safeguarding.

By getting to know many people and places, I gained a broader view of the diverse individuals and groups with whom the IADC interacts. By giving my own presentation in front of the students of the Licentiate in Safeguarding, I gained a deeper understanding of the IADC's work. Talking about prevention work and safeguarding in front of a multicultural group with different political views is a big challenge, which the IADC is doing its best to master. Through my internship, I understood that while there is a need to educate people about safeguarding, we have to stay open-minded to all kind of settings and work out ways of promoting safeguarding in all kinds of contexts. For me, a theology student, these experiences made the phrase “world church” tangible for the first time.

After finishing my internship, I travelled back to Germany with a lot of questions I am still thinking about. I am grateful for the experiences I had, thanks to the team of the IADC.