VOTF meets with Francis Cardinal George

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April 2003

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VOTF meets with Francis Cardinal George

VOTF meets with Francis Cardinal George

VOTF's Jim Muller, joined by members of SNAP, a clergy sexual abuse survivors network, speaks to reporters in front of the Chicago archdiocesan offices after dropping by for a chat with Francis Cardinal George.

Jim Muller, co-founder of Boston-based church reform group Voice of the Faithful, met with Chicago Archbishop Francis George on April 1 to discuss VOTF's goals and seek out a welcome from the cardinal for a Chicago-area VOTF network.

Muller called the discussion he had with George one of the better dialogues he's been able to conduct with church leaders, many of whom have shown a clear reluctance to accept the lay group if not outright hostility to it. "I think it was a good start," said Muller, "and we agreed to continue the dialogue between Cardinal George and Voice of the Faithful, which is a very good step. There are bishops in the country who have banned Voice of the Faithful without ever meeting."

Muller described his meeting to reporters outside the archdiocesan offices on an unusually chilly spring morning, even by Chicago standards, but VOTF has received even colder receptions elsewhere around the country. Seven dioceses have banned VOTF outright from meeting on parish property, including Boston, Massachusetts; Rockville Centre, New York; Bridgeport, Connecticut; and Newark and Camden, New Jersey. According to Muller, George pledged not to "actively oppose" the group's Chicago-area organizing efforts. "He did not say he would endorse us either. He's in a wait-and-see mode."

Last fall, VOTF sent a letter outlining its goals to more than 300 U.S. bishops. Only 10 responded, including George. VOTF leaders have met with about a dozen bishops. George did not participate in the press conference nor did his office release a statement.

Muller said George perceived VOTF as a "discernment group of baptized Catholics" and would not object to its activities within the Chicago archdiocese as long as its activities remained within those bounds. It's unclear if Muller and George's interpretation of the role of VOTF are complementary, however. "We want to participate in the governance and guidance of the Catholic church," said Muller, describing VOTF's ambitions for the future role of Catholic laity. "We think the church would be better with the laity participating more. The laity represent 99.9 percent of the church, yet they have very little way to express their thoughts."

VOTF is bringing lay Catholics a forum for discussions regarding the future and nature of the Catholic church, according to Muller. "You might call it a democracy but that's not a healthy word in the Catholic church, so it's better called a representative structure in which people can talk and then vote."

Muller said a good portion of his conversation with George revolved around VOTF's organizational motto: "Keep the faith, change the church."

"He said that 'change the church' is problematic because the church is given by Christ, and we should not be changing the church," said Muller. "What we came to agreement on is if our motto were 'keep the faith, change the way the church acts,' I think he'd find that okay."

VOTF is not out to change doctrine, Muller said, "It's out to change some aspects of the church that have changed in the past."

Muller raised some prickly subjects with George: he discussed a recent controversial guest of the cardinal's, a priest once convicted of a sex offense who stayed at a diocesan residence next door to a Catholic school; he asked George to free survivors of clergy sexual abuse from their court-ordered confidentiality agreements; and he requested that the cardinal support pending Illinois legislation that would extend the statute of limitations on sexual abuse crimes.

At a March 31 part lecture, part pep rally featuring Muller at Oak Park, Illinois' Dominican priory that drew about 200 Catholics from 50 Chicago-area parishes, Muller urged Chicago Catholics to aggressively organize VOTF chapters, noting such an effort could help jump-start a national church reform movement. "We hope we can grow quickly in Chicago," Muller said, "because Chicago would be a wonderful place for a [VOTF] world congress."

VOTF formed in 2002 in response to the clergy sex abuse crisis. It claims 25,000 members with 160 affiliate parishes nationwide. Muller previously helped found the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985.

In addition to its campaign to reform church governance structures, Voice of the Faithful offers support to victims of abuse and to "priests of integrity."—Kevin Clarke

For more information:
Voice of the Faithful
"Broken trust, broken lives: Survivors of priest sexual abuse speak out"—U.S. Catholic
Boston Globe: Abuse in the Catholic Church
SNAP
Linkup
Poynter Institute: abuse tracker
Yahoo: Catholic Church sex abuse scandal

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