LISLE, Ill. — The National Catholic Risk Retention Group has appointed Bishop Robert P. Deeley of the Diocese of Portland as the company’s episcopal moderator. The bishop has also been elected as a member of National Catholic’s Board of Directors.

These new appointments are in addition to his duties as the 12^th Bishop of the Diocese of Portland.

Incorporated in 1987, National Catholic is a licensed insurance company that operates as a risk retention group in 21 states with authority to write liability insurance in all 50 states. It is also the originator and provider of VIRTUS, the leading child protection and safe environment program for Catholic organizations in the United States.

More than 15,000 Catholic Church employees, volunteers, priests, and educators in Maine who work with children have been trained in the VIRTUS program, which offers education on recognizing the warning signs of risky behavior, the need to communicate concerns about improper behavior, and how to teach children proper boundaries and effective responses to potentially harmful situations.

“The VIRTUS program is a tremendous resource for our diocese and others in offering specialized safe environment programs to both adults and children,” Deeley said. “This abuse prevention training and awareness has helped the Diocese of Portland to be vigilant in its efforts to make the Church a safe place for children and all those who seek a place to draw near to God.”

On Dec. 18, 2013, Pope Francis appointed Deeley to lead the Diocese of Portland, and he was installed as bishop on Feb. 14, 2014, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland.

Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Deeley grew up in Belmont, Massachusetts, as the fourth in a family of five sons. His parents, Michael and Mary, now deceased, were born in County Galway, Ireland. His family belonged to Sacred Heart Parish in Watertown, Massachusetts, and he attended Matignon High School in North Cambridge.

Following high school, he entered Cardinal O’Connell Minor Seminary in Jamaica Plain to discern a vocation to the priesthood. After two years of college, he received a Theodore Basselin Foundation Scholarship and began philosophy studies at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., from which he graduated in 1968. In 1972, he earned a degree in Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Following a year of continuing studies in theology, he returned to Boston and was ordained to the priesthood on July 14, 1973, at his home parish, Sacred Heart in Watertown.

“We are so grateful that Bishop Deeley has agreed to assist us in our efforts to maintain the highest level of performance, particularly in our VIRTUS program,” said Dennis O’Hara, president and CEO of National Catholic. “In addition to facilitating discussions on matters important to our policyholders and shareholders, he will also be available to his fellow bishops on matters involving VIRTUS.”

The VIRTUS training occurs in both workshop settings and with modules on an online platform that participants complete on an ongoing basis.

“Since our training work began nearly 20 years ago, there have been no substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of a minor by a cleric in the Diocese of Portland,” Deeley said. “National Catholic has assisted the diocese in those efforts, and I am honored to offer any guidance and support to the board that I can.”

For more information about National Catholic or VIRTUS, visit the National Catholic website at www.tncrrg.org.