BANGOR (AP) – Maine’s Roman Catholic diocese is in full compliance with church guidelines in conducting background checks on volunteers and employees and providing sexual abuse prevention training for minors in its care, according to an audit released Tuesday.

The diocese last year was found to be falling short in complying with the Catholic Church’s Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, commonly known as the Dallas Charter.

This year, the diocese was 100 percent compliant in all 13 areas that were audited, Bishop Richard Malone said.

According to the audit, which reviewed the period from mid-December 2005 to August, all 4,926 clergy, employees and volunteers in the diocese have undergone background checks.

A total of 11,071 children, representing 79 percent of all children in Catholic schools and religious education training programs, have participated in sexual abuse prevention classes. The other 21 percent opted out of the classes.

“Our stepped-up efforts to complete the background checks and training will undoubtedly ensure a safer environment for our children, and I pledge we will continue to work diligently to make sure safeguards are in place to prevent future abuse,” Malone said.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops adopted the Dallas Charter in 2002 in the wake of the church’s priest sexual abuse scandal. The charter contains 17 articles addressing how the church works with sexual abuse victims, responds to allegations of abuse and protects children.

Each year, an outside company audits Catholic dioceses around the country to assess compliance with the charter.

In the previous audit of the Maine diocese last December, background checks had been completed on 87 percent of the volunteers and employees, and only 33 percent of the children had gone through sexual abuse prevention classes.

Of the 13 areas audited, the diocese – which has 234,000 members – was out of compliance in two areas.

AP-ES-12-19-06 1602EST