Lay Catholic Group Voice of the Faithful Seeks New Relevance

Wish TV Indianapolis ^ | 07/07/05

[murphE]

A Catholic reform group convenes its first national meeting in nearly 3 years Friday in Indianapolis.

The lay group is called `Voice of the Faithful.' It wants to focus on what it says will be a more relevant and lasting strategy now that the initial anger over the priest sexual abuse scandal has eased.

About 500 leaders from some 200 local affiliates will attend workshops on recruiting, strategy, keeping parishes open and supporting abuse victims.

The group's president, Jim Post, says the meetings will allow local leaders to share strategies and develop tools to overcome the apathy he perceives on the part of most Catholics in the United States.

[murphE]

OK, anyone who knows the real agenda of Voice of the Faithful might find the title of the article as well as the name of the source humorous. I did. I just think the word "new" should be removed from the title.

[Salvation]

LOL! Good call!

[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, ìWe have donation without representation, and we have to change that.î 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 the absolute power, which we have now of the hierarchy." See more details below.

[Straight Vermonter]

A Catholic reform group...

Meanwhile, the Jewish reform group The National Socialists...

[maryz]

I heard about this on the 5:00 a.m. newsbreak on WRKO (Boston). Summarizing (in my words), the priest scandal has run out of steam, so to keep going they have to broaden their agenda. They're apparently nonplused that some "consider them a dissident group." They claim this is utterly untrue -- they love the Church (this repeated a couple of times). That's why they think it has to be more "responsive" to parishioners.

Doesn't seem to be making a big splash: I'm not seeing it on 'RKO's website or the Boston Globe's (they're a fan!) or the Boston Herald's (they take VOTF at its word).

[maryz]

Caught the bit again on the 6:00 a.m. news, so to refine a bit: their new "agenda" (yes!) is "love of the Church." And they're not pushing for more "responsive" to parishioners, but more "accountable." (One suspects that for VOTF some parishioners are more equal than others; of course, "parishioner" is rather a fluid concept for them: wasn't there a protest against a parish by a VOTF member a year or so ago -- in MA, of course -- by a "parishioner" who was not actually a member of that parish?)

[kjvail]

His Eminence Archbisop Daniel Buechlein has issued a statement to the Archdiocese of Indianapolis on this group:

Voice of the Faithful I have met with Dr. Jim Mueller, one of the founders of Voice of the Faithful, and with local leaders, including a lengthy telephone conversation with Mary Heins, who I understand is the current regional coordinator. I believe these leaders are sincere and well-intentioned.

In our meetings, I have told these leaders that I and the Church certainly support the group’s first two goals — to support those who have been abused and to support the vast majority of our priests who are carrying out their ministry with integrity. However, when I have asked the leadership to tell me what they mean by their third goal, “to shape structural change within the Church,” they have been unable to clearly articulate its meaning or implications. In fact, they seem not to be aware of possible implications to changing the Church’s structure.

I have a significant problem with that because this goal touches on ecclesiology — how we as a Church understand ourselves. Some ecclesiological issues concern doctrine, canon law, or tradition. Some structures in the Church are man-made and could conceivably be changed without treading on doctrine, canon law, or tradition. An example would be the establishment of the National Review Board on clergy sexual abuse. However, other structural changes — switching to a congregational style of governance, for instance — do, in fact, deal with doctrinal and canonical issues and issues of our tradition that are not changeable.

Until Voice of the Faithful can clearly explain the meaning of this third goal, I cannot support the group. In addition, I am genuinely puzzled by the group’s perception that the laity are not involved in our Church. Perhaps this is a perception from outside the Midwest, but in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, the laity are very much involved in the Church at all levels. The central administration of our archdiocese could not possibly operate without dedicated lay people in responsible positions, nor could our parishes.

Lastly — and I have said this to the group’s leadership — as archbishop, I must listen to all the voices of the faithful. I have heard the voice of this group, and its voice is at odds in many instances with the other voices of the faithful that I also listen to.

These are the major reasons for my continued reluctance to embrace this organization.

—Most Rev. Daniel M. Buechlein, O.S.B. Archbishop of Indianapolis

My apologies for the formatting, the text is C&P'ed from a PDF which doesn't tend to work very well.

[Desdemona]

They claim this is utterly untrue -- they love the Church

Ah, but do they love Christ?

[maryz]

Gee, their website doesn't say. They do, however, love and support Thomas Reese and America: Petition Protesting the Forced Resignation of Thomas J. Reese, S.J.

[Desdemona]

That's what I thought.

I'll have to read more in-depth later. Time to go to work.

[dangus]

"The lay group is called `Voice of the Faithful.' It wants to focus on what it says will be a more relevant and lasting strategy now that the initial anger over the priest sexual abuse scandal has eased. "

How about, "...now that the fact that 97% of the clerical abuse stopped by the early 1990s has started to sink in, and faithful Catholics have come to realize that the national leadership of Voice of the Faithful is nothing but a bunch of modern-day protestants trying to wreak havoc."

[BulldogCatholic]

Vatican II=Disaster

VOTF=Vatican II

Bring back Tradition and restore the TLM. I was reading the Episcopal Church's Canon and Sacraments and it's verbiage and it is so amazingly close to the Novus Ordo Mass. It even uses the same terminology-or I should say the Vatican II church copied it with the assistance of Bugnini and the 6 Protestants. Ah Yes, we do have a church in turmoil, revolt and is basically borderline Protestant waiting for a Pope to just come out and admit it.