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PART IV Deeper Division and the American Catholic Council Editor’s note: On March 5, 2009, the co-chairmen of the Connecticut General Assembly Judiciary Committee introduced Raised Bill 1098 mandating reorganization of Catholic religious corporations. Catholics in Connecticut mobilized against the bill, which would have restricted a pastor’s authority in his own parish — and the bishop’s as well. The bill was withdrawn in the face of public outcry. In a four-part series, Deacon Thomas Davis, associate director of the Pope John Paul II Bioethics Center at Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Conn., and a practicing attorney ,...

KEYS OF THE KINGDOM. Did Christ ordain Peter and the Apostles? Did he intend to found a Church? If you follow Voice of the Faithful’s study guide, the answer is No. PART III Targeting Priesthood Editor’s note: One year ago this month, Catholics in Connecticut mobilized against a proposed law that would severely restrict a pastor’s authority in his own parish — and the bishop’s as well. In his four-part series, Deacon Thomas Davis, associate director of the Pope John Paul II Bioethics Center at Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Conn., and a practicing attorney, demonstrates how such...

PART II VOTF: Agenda and Method Editor’s note: One year ago this month, Catholics in Connecticut mobilized against a proposed law that would severely restrict a pastor’s authority in his own parish — and the bishop’s as well. In a four-part series continuing today, Deacon Thomas Davis, associate director of the Pope John Paul II Bioethics Center at Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Conn., and a practicing attorney, demonstrates how such a law fits in with parish restructuring proposals of Voice of the Faithful, the national organization that sprang up in the wake of the clerical sexual-abuse revelations...

‘OPPRESSED CLASS?’ Women recite the Lord's Prayer during Mass at the Voice of the Faithful national conference in Melville, N.Y., in 2009. Editor’s note: One year ago this month, Catholics in Connecticut mobilized against a proposed law that would severely restrict a pastor’s authority in his own parish — and the bishop’s as well. In a four-part series beginning today, Deacon Thomas Davis, associate director of the Pope John Paul II Bioethics Center at Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Conn., (www.holyapostles.edu) and a practicing attorney, demonstrates how such a law fits in with parish restructuring proposals of Voice...

 What's the biggest obstacle to positive reform in the Church? Reactionaries in the Roman Curia? Conservatives in the conference of bishops? The Code of Canon Law?   The correct answer is none of the above. The biggest obstacle to reform is the roadblock thrown in its way by self-styled reform groups themselves. By advocating changes that clash with the doctrine, discipline, and best interests of the Church, they give reform a bad name and lead sensible people to reason that if this is what "reform" means, they want no part of it.   Not to leave you guessing, I mean...

Voice of the Faithful, the Catholic lay group that formed in response to the priest sex abuse scandal, is facing its own crisis: lack of money. The national organization said it is "at the crossroads of financial survival" and needs $60,000 in donations by the end of July to keep going. The news struck a chord at a local affiliate. "I'm not terribly surprised," said Jolene Guerra of Topsfield, co-coordinator of the North Shore-Seacoast affiliate, which has members from Salem to Newburyport. "I'm certainly disappointed. I think financially the national organization has been struggling." "I've already been receiving e-mails from...

BOSTON — A lay Catholic group founded in the worst days of the church's clergy sex abuse scandal said Monday it may be forced to cease operations because of a downturn in donations.Leaders of Voice of the Faithful sent out a fundraising letter Monday to members saying it is "at the crossroads of financial survival" and needs $60,000 by the end of this month.Bill Casey, chairman of the group's board of trustees, said Voice of the Faithful has been hit hard by the economic downturn and is making an "emergency appeal" for donations. The group is based in the Boston...

Naples, Fla., Mar 18, 2009 / 06:20 am (CNA).- Citing Voice of the Faithful’s advocacy of church restructuring, the pastor of a Catholic church in Naples, Florida has barred the Southwest Florida VOTF affiliate from celebrating its annual Mass at the parish.St. John the Evangelist Church pastor Rev. John Ludden told the Naples News that he was concerned about the organization as a whole because “they’re becoming a group within the church that are aligning themselves with other groups that ... don’t trust the hierarchy and want to change our structure.”Voice of the Faithful (VOTF), a self-described church reform group,...

Connecticut Catholics, be prepared in Hartford Wednesday: 1. Catholic “experts” will back the anti-Church bill. 2. The defense of the bill will sound reassuring and reasonable. 3. A big crowd will be there early on — but the Church needs Catholics to come later on, too.4. We can win this, if we fight. Let me explain: 1. One objective of the new Connecticut anti-Church structure bill, I’m told, is for the Voice of the Faithful to get its message out about democratizing the Church. Today’s Connecticut Post lists “Some details of the proposed ‘Act Modifying Corporate Laws Relating to Certain...

  Marshall Ganz, a Harvard sociologist, was a major force behind organizing Voice of the Faithful (VOTF), a dissenting Catholic organization devoted to "structural" change in the Church. VOTF, you may recall, used the occasion of the priest sex scandals to call for changes in Catholic doctrine such as the addition of a married priesthood and popularly-elected bishops.   Ganz is a nationally known expert in political organizing. In 2004 he was an adviser to Howard Dean -- Ganz now advises Democratic presidential candidate, Barak Obama.   Ganz's intent in helping to found VOTF is made clear from a letter...

The sex-abuse scandal in Boston and the unflagging editorial support of the Boston Globe helped catapult Voice of the Faithful into national prominence. But from the start there have been questions about whether VOTF represents all the faithful, or only those inclined toward leftist causes. In response to such questions, VOTF has always said that the group does not take positions on internal Church disputes. But that begs the question: What is an internal Church dispute, and what is a matter of faith? Would VOTF welcome the participation of monophysites who claim to be Catholic? How about anti-Semites? OK,...

"This is an ancient, rigid, secretive, top-down, all-male monarchy. It always has been. It always will be. The answer is not to reform them, but to go around them and to contain them." Whatever constructive role these groups once played in the national “dialogue” about the abuses perpetrated by predatory, largely homosexual priests, it has long since past. In fact, they don’t seek dialogue at all. Clohessy now counsels against dialogue with bishops and instead urges Catholics to lobby state legislatures to exempt dioceses from statutes of limitation that prevent an endless stream of aging, often dubious, claims. High profile...

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 Catholic lay reform group Voice of the Faithful is holding a national meeting to create a lasting strategy for involvement in the church, three years after the clergy sex abuse scandal fueled the group's calls for change.For three days beginning Friday, about 500 leaders from some 200 of the organization's local affiliates will attend workshops on recruiting, strategy, keeping parishes open and supporting abuse victims.It is the group's first national meeting in nearly three years.The steps are needed to transform the 30,000-member organization from a cause fueled by anger into a mature advocate for worshippers, observers say."Anger gets you...

Angela Bonavoglia won't let Catholic Church silence her Angela Bonavoglia, the controversial speaker and author who was banned from speaking at the Catholic Jesuit Loyola Retreat in Morristown last week by Paterson Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli, spoke before a packed audience at an alternate location instead - St. Mark Lutheran Church, also in Morristown. Although clearly dismayed the bishop's decision ("They don't know me," she quipped), Bonavoglia gave her speech as planned on May 11 and talked about the "invisible" crime of sex abuse against females and the need for the church to reconsider its policies on female ordination and...

Writer banned from speaking at retreat Diocese of Paterson Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli has banned a writer who supports abortion rights and female ordination from speaking to a lay Catholic group on church property. Angela Bonavoglia , a self-de­scribed "itinerant Catholic," was scheduled to speak tonight to a lo­cal branch of the lay group Voice of the Faithful at the Jesuit Loyola Retreat in Morristown. But at the last minute, the diocese asked the Jesuits there to "disinvite" Bonavoglia, saying that her views oppose church doctrine, according to a diocesan spokeswoman. The ban marks the first time a Paterson bishop...

Listed below is thread on Angela Bonavoglia. She will be speaking at the Loyola Retreat House, Morristown, NJ,  on Wednesday night, May 11, 2005, which is being sponsored by the Voice of the Faithful (VOTF), an apostate Marxist organization run by laypersons who don't like the traditional church. She is a pro-abortion feminist who wants a "new Catholic church" !   Angela's WebsiteContact Angela Here  The Local Catholic Bishop, Most Reverend Arthur J. Serratelli, S.T.D., S.S.L., D.D;  needs to know what is going on in his diocese by religious orders who don't necessarily report to the local ordinary.Here is a story, written by...

Fr. Robert Carr, Holy Cross Cathedral, Boston, sends us the following: "We have been alerted here that there is a move to make an assault on the Church in the US and an attempt to bring down Pope Benedict XVI in Rome through propaganda.   The Rainbow Sash Movement has called for protests in churches throughout the United States in favor of Gay rights and against Pope Benedict. http://www.rainbowsashmovement.com/New_Web_Site_12_18_04/Stories/RSM_Pentecost_2005.htm   Meanwhile Voice of the Faithful, another movement against the Church is using the case of Fr. Marcial Maciel the founder of the Legionaires of Christ who is accused of...

Pope had critics, too As Pope John Paul II is laid to rest this week, debates he fueled in churches throughout the Americas continue to swirl.In the United States and Latin America, John Paul left a church with declining membership, short on clergy, and attempting to heal from the priest sex-abuse scandal.For critics and lay reform groups, his biggest weakness was his refusal to engage in open dialogue.Polls have shown the majority of American Catholics out of step with church doctrine on issues such as contraception, divorce, homosexual unions, married clergy, and women priests, even as they praised the pope's...

A publication for East Bay Catholics refused to run an advertisement and notice announcing a university-sponsored seminar that gathers scholars to discuss the Catholic Church's future. As publisher of the Catholic Voice, Bishop Allen Vigneron of the Oakland Diocese rejected running an ad and notification item for the one-day University of San Francisco seminar, "Imaging the Future Church." In a March 1 letter to the East Bay chairman of the Voice of the Faithful, Vigneron explained that his decision was based on critical comments on church doctrine he heard from group members.