DRAFT, for attorney review. Not in force. Prepared for counsel by the Propius build; every bracketed item is for counsel or the owner to fill.
Effective date: [EFFECTIVE DATE] · Version: 2026-10-draft-1
Who we are and what Propius is
Propius is a tool parishes use to welcome people and help them meet: a short hello after Mass, dinners with other parishioners, events, volunteering, and letters with a sister parish abroad. Your parish runs its own Propius pages under its real name.
Propius is operated by [OPERATOR LEGAL NAME], [OPERATOR ADDRESS] (“we”, “us”, “the operator”). These Terms are an agreement between you and the operator. Your parish has its own written agreement with us (the parish data agreement).
Click-to-agree
When you sign up, you tick the box “I’ll follow the code of conduct and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy”. Then we email you a sign-in link and a 6-digit code. Pressing “Open the doors” from that link, or entering the code from that email, next to the line that says you agree, is your electronic signature. It means you accept these Terms, the Privacy Policy and the code of conduct.
We record which version you accepted and when. Only the person who receives that email can finish signing up, so nobody can agree on your behalf by typing your email.
If we post a new version, we will tell you inside Propius before it applies to you. If you keep using Propius after that, you accept the new version. If you don’t agree, you can stop using Propius and delete your account at any time.
Adults only
Propius is only for adults, 18 or older. You confirm your age when you sign up. If we or your parish learn that an account belongs to someone under 18, the account is closed and its information deleted.
Platform, not organizer
The operator provides software. Dinners, events, volunteering, letters and every other gathering are arranged by your parish and its members, not by the operator.
The operator does not host, supervise or attend any gathering. We do not inspect restaurants, halls or homes. We do not vouch for any person, parish, host or guest. Suggestions in the app (a dinner table, a welcome host, an event invite) are made by software, and some are checked by parish coordinators; none of them is a promise that a person or place is safe.
No screening
The operator does not run background checks and does not verify anyone’s identity beyond confirming that they control an email address. We do not check ages, criminal records or references.
Screening is your parish’s job, under the diocese’s policy. Your parish has agreed that coordinators who can read private information (such as flagged letters or the faith answer) complete the diocese’s safe-environment training and screening before the pastor gives them that role. We cannot check that it happened. Other members and hosts are not screened by anyone. You choose whom you meet and where.
Assumption of risk
Meeting people carries risk. So do visiting homes and restaurants, travel, and food (including allergies). You accept these risks when you choose to take part, and you use your own judgment.
Follow the app’s advice: the first time you meet someone in person, meet in a public place or the parish hall. A first dinner is never held in a home. A host’s home address is shown only to guests who said they are going, starting 24 hours before the event, and to the parish’s event approvers and pastor (every such view is logged). Leave whenever you feel uncomfortable.
Release of liability
To the fullest extent the law allows, you release the operator, and the people who work for it, from claims that arise from:
- meetings, dinners, events, volunteering or travel you take part in;
- letters and messages, and what other people write or do;
- the conduct of other members, hosts, guests, coordinators or parishes.
This release does not cover the operator’s gross negligence or wilful misconduct, or anything the law does not allow us to exclude.
Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent the law allows, the operator’s total liability to you for all claims is limited to the greater of [LIABILITY CAP AMOUNT] or the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim. Propius is free to members, so for most members the cap is [LIABILITY CAP AMOUNT].
The operator is not liable for indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages, or for lost profits or lost data. Some places do not allow these limits; where that is so, they apply only as far as the law permits.
Indemnity
You agree to cover the operator (defend it and pay its reasonable costs, including legal fees) for claims by others that are caused by:
- your breach of these Terms or the code of conduct; or
- your unlawful conduct.
Code of conduct
Everyone who joins agrees to the code of conduct. In short:
- Be kind. Speak to people the way you would on the steps after Mass.
- Keep it parish-appropriate: no harassment, no romantic or sexual advances, no campaigning.
- Never ask anyone for money, gifts or favors. No selling, recruiting or pressure. Real needs go to the parish.
- Take no for an answer the first time.
- Keep what others share private. Never pass on anyone’s contact details without their consent.
- Use first names only in shared spaces.
- Adults only.
Report and block are available wherever people talk. If someone raises a concern about you, your parish may pause your access while it is looked into.
Your content
You own what you write in Propius. You give your parish and the operator a limited right to store it, filter it, translate it and deliver it, only to run Propius for you.
Letters and messages are filtered. Phone numbers, emails, links and social media handles are removed. Mentions of money or gifts are flagged for a person to check. Translations are made by machine and labelled as machine-translated; your original is always kept beside the translation.
Some letters are read by a named reviewer from the writer’s parish before they are delivered. Every time a coordinator opens a letter, it is recorded in an audit log.
Safety and emergencies
Propius is not an emergency service and is not monitored around the clock.
- If anyone is in danger, call 911.
- If you or someone else is thinking about suicide or self-harm, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), any hour.
Reports you make in Propius go to named coordinators at your parish, who follow a written escalation policy.
Ending your account
You can delete your account at any time in Settings. Your name, email, phone and private answers are wiped straight away. You choose whether letters and messages you wrote stay, signed “a former member”, or are removed. You can download your data first.
If you haven’t signed in for about 23 months, we email you. If you still haven’t signed in 30 days later (two years in all), we delete the account; letters and messages you wrote stay, signed “a former member”.
We or your parish may suspend or close an account that breaks these Terms or the code of conduct.
Changes, governing law, contact
We may update these Terms; see Click-to-agree above for how you will be told.
These Terms are governed by the laws of [GOVERNING LAW STATE]. Any dispute goes to the courts of [VENUE COUNTY, STATE], unless the law where you live says otherwise.
Questions: [CONTACT EMAIL].