VOTF banned in Boston—and elsewhere

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October 2002

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VOTF banned in Boston—and elsewhere

VOTF banned in Boston—and elsewhere
Voice of the Faithful, an Catholic institutional reform group of lay Catholics formed in the wake of the clergy sex absue crisis, has now been prohibited from meeting on church properties in dioceses around the nation: Rockville Center, New York; Bridgeport, Connecticut; Bend, Oregon; North Andover, Massachusetts; Portland, Maine; and Camden, New Jersey. The group's President Jim Post commented, "VOTF has been effectively condemned without any hearing, any due process, or any precise charge." VOTF has hired a canon lawyer to advise it in its increasing friction with American Catholic bishops.

Post said, "Bannings and denunciations are wrong on fact, wrong on process, and wrong on morality. The bishops must understand that Voice of the Faithful, on behalf of the Catholic laity, will demand fair and equitable treatment according to the spirit of canon law. We will use any procedure available in civil law to discover the truth and rebut slander coming from any source, and we will not fail to bring our case before the court of public opinion."

He added, "We also demand recognition of the equitable principle that a Catholic lay association formed according to canon law, as long as it keeps the faith and respects the laws of the Church, may meet on Church property that they themselves built and maintain. We hold that banishment of persons who in no way have been found guilty of any deviation from faith or discipline is destructive to the internal life of the Catholic community and is in flagrant contradiction to the spirit of dialogue that Pope John Paul II continuously advocates and demands."

VOTF announced the hiring of Ladislas Orsy, S.J. as an outside consultant in canon law and related matters. According to VOTF, the appointment represents a "major step in asserting VOTF's demand to participate responsibly in Catholic Church decisions and to meet on church property." Orsy has a doctorate in Canon Law from the Gregorian University in Rome and is a graduate in civil law of the Honors School of Law of Oxford University in England. Before his present appointment at Georgetown University, he taught at the Pontifical Gregorian University and Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, at Fordham University in New York City, and at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

The VOTF response came after the October 1 banning of the group in Andover, Massachusetts, the most recent in a string of recent similar prohibitions by American bishops. Boston Auxiliary Bishop Emilio Allue wrote last month to Father Paul Keyes, pastor of Saint Michael Church in North Andover, and told him that Voice of the Faithful meetings that were being held at the church "must be curtailed in order to avoid further scandal and polarity among our parishioners." in his letter banning the group, Allue wrote that the archdiocese is seeking "clarification of all hidden and open issues involved and promoted by the VOTF," and until that process is complete, meetings are "inappropriate."

Voice of the Faithful leaders say they will contest the ban, which they said is illegal under church and United States law. "We love our church and all we ever sought, from the beginning, was open and honest dialogue," John Vellante, spokesman for the group's 135-member Saint Michael's chapter told the Associated Press.

Voice of the Faithful has been labeled by some as a dissent group, but it insists it "accepts the teaching authority of the Catholic Church" and does not seek to eliminate celibacy among priests or allow ordination of women.

The group has already had disputes with the Boston Archdiocese. Cardinal Bernard Law has refused to accept money raised by the group, and pastors in three towns have prevented the group from meeting in churches.

Voice of the Faithful is a Newton, Massachusetts-based organization formed in response to the clergy sexual abuse crisis. According to VOTF, its goals are to support survivors of abuse and "priests of integrity," and shape structural change within the Catholic Church. VOTF reports a membership of more than 25,000 registered individuals from more than 40 U.S. states and 21 countries.

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