Posted on 11/19/2003 8:45:54 PM PST by Salvation
| Voice of the Faithful (VOTF) |
| From their mission statement, they are attempting to "3. Shape structural change within Church." This is intended to make a "democratic" Church which clearly violates the hierarchical structure which has always existed and is reemphasized in Vatican II Lumen Gentium. The chairman James Muller states in a National Catholic Reporter article on April 26, 2002, “We have donation without representation, and we have to change that.” Also on a CNN interview dated April 29, 2002, the chairman desires cafeteria Catholicism: "... our goal is to provide a democracy for the laity, so that the laity can decide what they want and then counterbalance |
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Alleluia, Amen. This letter explains the problem perfectly. Our initial suspicions were valid.
And while we're at it, let's lose the parish mission statements, OK? We have one that is about as inspiring as a Hallmark card. "The community of blah, blah, blah..." Sheesh.
By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff, 11/20/2003
Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley, saying it is time for healing and reconciliation, said yesterday that he will reconsider the Archdiocese of Boston's refusals to accept money raised by Voice of the Faithful or to allow new affiliates of the lay organization to meet on church property.O'Malley also told leaders of Voice of the Faithful that he wants to strengthen the role of lay people in administering parishes, and he pledged to make public an audit of the archdiocese's efforts to prevent sexual abuse of minors.
O'Malley met yesterday for the first time with leaders of Voice of the Faithful, an international group based in Newton claiming 30,000 members that was formed last year by Catholics upset by the church's handling of the clergy sex abuse crisis. The private meeting lasted about an hour, and was characterized by a level of mutual respect that was not present at meetings between the lay organization and Cardinal Bernard F. Law, according to participants.
O'Malley's spokesman, the Rev. Christopher J. Coyne, used the most generous language ever by a Boston church leader to describe Voice of the Faithful, an organization that around the country has been welcomed by some bishops but banned by others and which has been denounced by its critics as dissident.
"Each member of Voice of the Faithful who came made it very clear . . . that they are faithful, good members of their parishes, and that the people who are part of Voice of the Faithful are not dissidents, people who are not out to spread disunity within the church, but just people who want to help the church move forward," Coyne told reporters after the meeting. "All of us around the table did not see divisions between Catholic and Catholic, but mainly just saw some issues within the family that need to be resolved."
Coyne said that the improved assessment of Voice of the Faithful is possible because of an improved climate at the archdiocese. O'Malley recently brokered an $85 million settlement of legal claims brought by more than 500 alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse, and his straight talk, frequent meetings with victims, and steps to resolve the crisis have been generally greeted with good will.
"The circumstances in which we're all living and moving forward as a church have drastically changed in the last six months," Coyne said. "While recognizing that there are still . . . many things to do, that allows for conversation that's open and honest."
Two bishops in the United States have reversed bans against the organization: Thomas V. Daily of Brooklyn and Daniel E. Pilarczyk of Cincinnati. The organization is currently barred from meeting on church property in 10 dioceses, including Fall River, where O'Malley's successor banned the organization as one of his first acts in office.
Coyne did not characterize the likelihood of change in Boston, where Law and Bishop Richard G. Lennon -- the interim leader of the archdiocese after Law resigned -- did not accept money raised by the group and said that any chapter of the group formed after Oct. 13, 2002, would be barred from meeting on church property. "He said that he would consider lifting the partial ban on affiliates in the archdiocese," Coyne said of O'Malley. "He also asked the chancellor to look at the financial structure and setup of the Voice of Compassion fund."
Voice of the Faithful leaders, speaking after the meeting, said O'Malley strongly suggested he was inclined to accept money raised by them. They told him it is painful for loyal Catholics to be barred from using their own parishes for meetings to discuss the state of the church, but said his posture toward lifting the ban is unclear.
Voice of the Faithful has raised approximately $100,000 from people unwilling to give directly to the archdiocese; most of the money has been contributed to Catholic Charities after Law and Lennon declined to accept it.
Voice of the Faithful President James E. Post said yesterday's meeting was "considerably more cordial" than six previous meetings with archdiocesan leaders. He and other leaders of the group yesterday presented a portrait of O'Malley, inscribed with a quote from O'Malley's installation homily and with the prayer of St. Francis, to the archbishop as a good-will gesture.
"We spoke and he listened; he spoke and we listened," Post said. "I think Archbishop Sean has questions that need to be resolved, and of course we would provide that information. We want to get on with it."
O'Malley was accompanied to the meeting by Lennon, Coyne, archdiocesan chancellor David W. Smith, and Barbara Thorp, who is the archdiocese's liaison to abuse victims. Post was accompanied by Steve Krueger, the organization's executive director, as well as by two active members of the organization, Elia Marnik of Reading and Margaret Roylance of Newton. The meeting took place at the house in Brighton formerly used as the archbishop's residence; O'Malley, honoring a pledge he made during the summer, earlier this week moved into the rectory at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in the South End.
"Over and over and over again, everybody kept talking about moving forward, moving towards healing," Coyne said. O'Malley has repeatedly said he does not know much about Voice of the Faithful, which did not have chapters in Fall River or Palm Beach when he was the bishop there. A portion of yesterday's meeting involved Voice of the Faithful members explaining how their group came about, and about its goals, which include supporting victims and "priests of integrity" and helping to shape structural change in the church.
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What's sad is that Bishop O'Malley used to be the bishop of the priests who wrote the letter that is posted on this thread. This comes at a time when VOTF is actually dying out here in Boston - O'Malley has given them new life. Bishop O'Malley also said that he is going to have VOTF work with the deacon who is implementing "Talk about Touching" in the parishes so the program can be installed. So, although he hasn't officially lifted the ban on forming new chapters in parishes, VOTF will be in every parish to ensure an orderly implementation of this horrible program.
We are in deep trouble here in Boston.
I'm feeling pretty cynical today, so forgive me.
I've never seen a parish statement that has been anything but touchy-feely - who makes them up, anyway? And why do we need a "parish statement"? Most of them don't even have the word "Catholic" in them.
If we have to have them (why?), I'd like to see one that says something like "Our parish mission is to provide the Catholic faithful with the sacraments and help them through the narrow gate by teaching them to live the way Jesus Christ taught us" --- I can't write but somehow the words "Catholic Church" "He left us" should be in there somewhere.
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