Voice of the Faithful meet in sorrow and hope

Social justice news
August 2002

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Amnesty International renews call for suspension of U.S. weapons transfers to Israel
Bishops concerned about "homeland security's" threat to immigrants
CRS in emergency response to drought and famine in southern Africa
School of the Americas protesters sentenced
Supreme Court affirms school vouchers
Voice of the Faithful meet in sorrow and hope
War drums along the Potomac

Voice of the Faithful meet in sorrow and hope
"I must say I'm happy to report that burning at the stake is no longer what happens to those who disagree with the Cardinal," said Dr. Jim Muller, founder of the quickly growing Voice of the Faithful (VOTF) movement in Boston.

solidarity Now claiming over 22,500 members worldwide, the six-month old lay organization that started as a response to the scandal of clergy sex abuse and subsequent cover-ups hosted a conference at the Hynes Center in Boston that drew 4,200 attendees from 35 states and five foreign countries.

The theme of the conference was "Response of the Faithful" and thousands of attendees signed a declaration to be sent to Rome asking the Pope to hold accountable any bishop who reassigned an abusive priest or concealed his crimes.

As the group seeks to maintain a broad range of ideologies from traditional to progressive in its ranks, it does not take a stand on other specific issues of reform in the church—such as married clergy or women's roles—but advocates only that the laity should have a voice in decisions on these issues. The goals listed in the group's mission statement are to support victims of clergy abuse, support priests of integrity, and shape structural change within Church.

While the Archdiocese of Boston has officially remained cordial with the group—sending a representative from its new Office for Healing and Assistance Ministry to the conference—it announced it would reject donations from the VOTF Compassion Fund, an alternate fundraising campaign for those who do not wish to contribute to the archdiocese or Cardinal's Appeal, but still want to support Catholic social services. Donna Morrissey, spokesperson for the archdiocese said the Compassion fund "does not recognize the role of the Archbishop and his responsibility in providing for the various programs and activities of the church." She said the archdiocese is acting out of a "sincere effort to maintain the proper relationship between a bishop and the faithful."

Jim Post, president of VOTF said, "Our hope is to stay in dialogue with the diocese, but one thing we will not negotiate is our right to exist, our right to free speech."

Rumors circulated at the conference that priests in the Archdiocese of Boston were directed by the Cardinal's office to not become involved in VOTF, but Father Robert Bullock, pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish and a leader of the Boston Priests' Forum disputed the rumor, saying, "There has been no public statement from the archdiocese on that." Similarly, no archdiocesan ban has been made on VOTF meetings on church property, although VOTF spokesperson Mike Emerton reports that in certain cases VOTF groups have not been allowed to meet at a parish. "Some priests agree with VOTF's goals, but are receiving pressure, possibly from the archdiocese, priests or bishops, not to allow meetings on property. In these cases, VOTF meetings are conducted in local libraries or town meeting places. There are also those individuals (priests and others) that do not agree with VOTF and its principles. In this situation, VOTF members default to 'off church property' meetings." Many parish VOTF groups do, in fact, meet at local parishes.

banner Paul Baier, a VOTF organizer, said that over 150 members asked to be taken off its membership list because they had received warnings from pastors that VOTF was "not approved." Groups in other dioceses have been shut down because their bishops say VOTF is divisive.

In response to these attacks, 68 theologians from Catholic institutions around the country signed a statement supporting VOTF's right as the laity to organize, citing Vatican II's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church: "By reason of the knowledge, competence, or preeminence which they have, the laity are empowered—indeed sometimes obliged—to manifest their opinion on those things which pertain to the good of the Church."

Knowledge, competence, and preeminence are three things VOTF is definitely not short on. Muller is a 1985 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for his work as founder of International Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War and is currently a cardiologist at Harvard Medical School. Post is a professor of management at Boston University and organized a successful international boycott of the Nestle Corporation in the 1980s.

Among the speakers at the conference were professors from Harvard University, Boston College, University of New Hampshire, Holy Cross College, and Weston Jesuit School of Theology, as well as authors, lawyers, priests, and lay ministers. Plenary sessions focused on the role of the laity in the church, while smaller breakout sessions addressed more specific topics like "young adults as catalysts for change," "how to hold a listening session in your parish," and "the dilemma of priests."

VOTF devoted much of the conference to the voices of survivors of clergy sex abuse, including the leadership of Survivors' Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and Linkup, both national advocacy groups for victims. At the close of the conference on Saturday evening, many VOTF attendees joined victims' groups in a solidarity march to the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. At the steps of the Cathedral, marchers held aloft signs calling for accountability from bishops who allowed abusers to remain in ministry as well as photographs of victims at the age they were abused. One banner simply showed black silhouettes of a young boy and girl to represent those who have never come forward and another in remembrance of victims who committed suicide.

During a plenary session at the conference, attendees watched a video of a similar solidarity march that took place in June. At the end of the video, the speaker asked for a moment of silence "to remember those to whom the burden was too heavy and they did not survive." Several people were heard openly weeping in their seats, the sound of their sobs echoing through the silent hall.

VOTF awarded its first annual "Priest of Integrity" award to Father Thomas Doyle, author of a prophetic 1985 report to the U.S. bishops on clergy sex abuse predicting disastrous fallout if policies didn't change. Regarded as a champion of clergy sex abuse victims, Doyle lost a prominent post at the Vatican embassy as a result of his persistence on the issue. He is now an Air Force Chaplain at Ramstein Air Force Base, Germany.

"The victims are our first priority because if Jesus were here today he'd be here with them," Doyle said. He urged the crowd gathered to stand strong in support of victims. The second priority, he said, is to work for change in the church. "The church is in the beginning death throes of a medieval, monarchical model," he said, "It will be critical not to stifle the movement with factionalism and power struggles."

Ultimately, much of the focus of the conference was to motivate participants to take the VOTF movement back to their home parishes or dioceses. VOTF's long-term goal is to establish a Parish Voice chapter in every parish in the country and eventually other countries. Such chapters will then be organized on a diocesan, national, and global level.

"People ask, 'Won't it just become another bureaucracy?'" Muller said, "But it won't, because in our model power goes from the bottom up, not from the top down."—Tara Dix

For more information:
Voice of the Faithful

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