The Mentor Agreement

1. Fidelity to Catholic teaching

I will accompany, teach, and counsel in accordance with Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. Where I hold a private opinion that differs from the Church’s teaching, I will not present it as that teaching, and I will not use my place here to advance it. Where a seeker raises a question beyond my competence, I will say so and direct them to their own pastor.

See also Mentor Code of Conduct in the Terms of Service.

2. Permission from my authority

Whatever permission my state of life requires of me to offer spiritual accompaniment — from my bishop, my religious superior, my pastor, or my institute — I have. If no permission is required of me, that is because none is required, and not because I have declined to seek it.

I will tell GraceBook within seven days if that permission is withdrawn, restricted, suspended, or lapses, or if I am placed under any canonical penalty, restriction of ministry, or investigation. I understand that continuing to accompany seekers here after any of those things, without telling you, is the most serious breach of this Agreement I could commit.

I name below the person or office competent for me. I understand GraceBook does not contact them to approve me, and may contact them if a serious concern arises about my conduct here.

See also Account Registration in the Terms of Service.

3. Competence for this mission

I have the formation, education, and lived experience that spiritual accompaniment asks of a person, and I am fit to offer it. I will work within the limits of that competence and not beyond them.

In particular, I understand that spiritual accompaniment is not therapy, counseling, psychiatric care, medical care, legal advice, or financial advice, and that I am not offering any of those here. When someone’s need exceeds what spiritual accompaniment can meet, I will say so plainly and refer them to a licensed professional — and when someone is in danger, to emergency services.

See also Disclaimers in the Terms of Service.

4. The good of the person in front of me

I will use this ministry for the good of the person I am accompanying and for no other end. I will not use it to recruit, to solicit money or business, to advance a cause, to gather a following, or to seek anything for myself. I will keep proper boundaries, will not pursue a personal, romantic, financial, or other dual relationship with a seeker, and will hold what is said to me in confidence except where the law requires otherwise.

I understand the relationship is unequal — someone comes to me in need, and that gives me a kind of power over them — and I will exercise it with care.

See also Mentor Code of Conduct, Prohibited Conduct in the Terms of Service.

5. The truth of this, and what follows if it is broken

Everything I have stated above is true, and I have not omitted anything that would change your judgment of it.

I understand that if GraceBook determines I have broken this Agreement, it may: suspend my profile immediately and without prior notice; remove me from the Platform temporarily or permanently, and block me from registering again; report the matter, and the conduct it concerns, to my bishop, religious superior, pastor, or institute — including to the person I have named below; and report the matter to civil or law enforcement authorities where the law requires it or the safety of a person calls for it.

I understand that a false statement made here is not a technicality. It is how a person who should not be accompanying anyone gets in front of someone who is suffering.

See also Account Suspension & Termination in the Terms of Service.

6. GraceBook does not verify these statements

GraceBook does not confirm your ordination, faculties, canonical status, permission, formation, credentials, or employment. It does not conduct background checks, does not verify safe environment or VIRTUS certification, and conducts no independent investigation of anything in Part I. You alone are responsible for the truth of what you have attested, and you bear sole responsibility for the guidance you give. Nothing in this Agreement is an endorsement, recommendation, certification, or warranty by GraceBook of you or of your fitness for this work.

See also Mentor Attestation in the Terms of Service.

7. No ecclesiastical effect

Signing this confers no canonical mission, faculty, mandate, delegation, office, or authority of any kind. It is not permission to minister and does not substitute for permission your own authority must give. Nothing here alters the authority your bishop, superior, or pastor has over you, and nothing here is intended to be interpreted or adjudicated as a matter of canon law.

8. Your status

You serve on GraceBook as an independent person, not as an employee, agent, partner, joint venturer, volunteer, or representative of GraceBook. You have no authority to bind GraceBook or to speak for it. You are responsible for your own taxes, insurance, and any professional licensure you hold. Any gift a seeker offers you is a gift between you and them; GraceBook does not pay you, set rates, or direct your work.

See also Payments & Donations in the Terms of Service.

9. Reporting obligations that are yours, not ours

GraceBook does not record sessions and does not retain session content. The obligation to recognize and act on a disclosure of abuse, neglect, or imminent danger therefore rests entirely with you, as the only person present. Reporting something to GraceBook does not discharge any obligation you owe to civil authorities.

See also Mandatory Reporting in the Terms of Service.

10. Sacramental boundaries

You will not solicit or offer sacramental absolution, sacramental ministry, or any sacrament through the Platform. These boundaries are absolute.

See also Sacramental Boundaries in the Terms of Service.

11. Enforcement is at GraceBook’s discretion

GraceBook may suspend or remove any mentor at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice, and without any obligation to establish that a breach occurred to any standard of proof. Removal carries no compensation, no refund, and no claim of any kind. GraceBook will give notice and a reason where it reasonably can, and provides a way to respond.

See also Account Suspension & Termination in the Terms of Service.

12. Reporting to church authorities

Where GraceBook reports a matter under section 5, it may disclose your name, the substance of the concern, the conduct at issue, and the dates and fact of any sessions involved. It will not disclose the content of sessions, because it does not hold any. By signing this Agreement you consent to that disclosure, and you agree it may be made without further notice to you where notice would risk the safety of a person or the integrity of an inquiry.

See also Mentor Code of Conduct in the Terms of Service.

13. Your responsibility for the consequences

You will indemnify and hold harmless GraceBook, its officers, directors, employees, and agents from any claim, loss, liability, or expense (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of a breach of this Agreement by you, an untrue statement in Part I, the guidance you give, or your conduct toward any person on the Platform. This is in addition to the indemnification section of the Terms, and is limited to matters arising from your own acts and statements.

See also Indemnification in the Terms of Service.

14. This record

You consent to sign this Agreement electronically and to receive it and records relating to it in electronic form. Your typed name, together with the date, time, and version recorded by GraceBook, is your signature and has the same effect as a handwritten one. You may withdraw consent to electronic records or request a paper copy by writing to us, though withdrawing consent means you can no longer serve as a mentor here.

GraceBook keeps a record of the exact version you signed and when. That record is retained after your account is closed or deleted, for as long as any claim arising from your service here could be brought. You can read the version you signed at any time from your dashboard.

15. Changes

GraceBook may revise this Agreement. Where a revision materially changes what you have undertaken, you will be asked to sign the new version, and will be given reasonable time to do so before your profile is stood down. Your earlier signature is not altered and remains the record of what you agreed to at the time.

See also Changes to These Terms in the Terms of Service.

16. Survival, severability, and governing law

Sections 5, 6, 8, 12, 13, and 14 survive the end of your service on GraceBook. If any provision is held unenforceable, the rest stands. Governing law and dispute resolution follow the Terms of Service.

See also Dispute Resolution in the Terms of Service.