You have a baptismal right to the Eucharist. Yet, mandatory celibacy limits the priesthood and reduces the availability of the Eucharist. Bishops prefer to close parish communities rather than open the priesthood. How did we get into this sad situation? And how do we open the doors again to a priesthood embracing the celibate and the married?

We invite you to sign up for this workshop at our 2014 Assembly to learn how. Priestless Parishes: There IS An Answer will be one of six workshops presented during the VOTF 2014 Assembly on April 5 in Hartford, Connecticut. Click here to register online and choose the Optional Celibacy workshop option to be part of the solution to priestless parishes.

Additional workshops will include Clericalism; Parish Finances: Tools for Securing Collections; The Montana Hustle Case Study for Diocesan Financial Accountability; Female Voices; and Survivor Support: Spirituality & Trauma, which will be facilitated by Fr. Thomas Doyle.

Enjoy a full day of presentations, workshops, prayer, and collegial collaboration at the VOTF 2014 Assembly: Turning Talk into Action, April 5, 2014, at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford. Our guest speakers will be John L. Allen, Jr., Associate Editor for Catholic news and analysis at The Boston Globe, and Fr. Thomas Reese, National Catholic Reorter's Senior Analyst. Six afternoon workshops will help you turn talk into action. Lunch is included in the $80 per person registration fee. If you stay overnight in Hartford, you may make reservations at the Marriott Hartford Downtown, located right next to the convention center, for only $89 per night. Use the link at the top of the left-hand menue for more information.

Pope Francis insists that women cannot be ordained, and instead of speaking about a "theology of humans" calls for developing a "theology of women." Can women hope for equal opportunity in ministry from a male hierarchy trapped in a patriarchal mindset? Join us at the VOTF 2014 Asswembly in Hartford April 5 at the Female Voices workshop to consider these questions and others.  Click here to read more about our four Conversation Starters, who will help us explore experiences, hopes, and possibilities within today's Church.

 As cardinals gather in Rome this month to welcome newly named cardinals and prepare for the October 2014 synod on the family, some of the formal responses to the synod questionnaire are emerging.

Last week saw publication of the German bishops' response, a preliminary report from Switzerland, and publication of questionnaire results by the Diocese of St. Petersburg in Florida. This week it's the Japanese bishops' report.

All of the reports stressed the gaps between Vatican thinking and pastoral realities. The report from Japan added criticism of the questionnaire itself, which presumed a "Christian majority" image of family and a Western viewpoint of cultural life.

As a companion effort to the U.S. questionnaire distributed by dioceses, Voice of the Faithful joined other groups in the association Catholic Organizations for Renewal (COR) to host an online questionnaire. Results from that compilation were sent to Rome in December. A complete report is now available online.

Here are links to the reports made available online:

Germany

Japan

St. Petersburg FL

Independent COR-sponsored questionnaire

"In an unprecedented report critical of the Catholic church’s handling of the clergy sexual abuse scandal, the United Nations demanded Wednesday (Feb. 5) the Vatican immediately remove all clergy known or suspected to be child abusers, turn them over to civil authorities, and hold ‘those who concealed their crimes’ accountable." National Catholic Reporter

See more on VOTF Blog post.

The Enigma of Pope Francis
Presented on Friday, October 25, 2013,
at St. Eulalia Parish Hall,
Winchester, Massachusetts

Pope Francis has ushered in a kinder, more pastoral papacy and speaks eloquently of the reforms needed. He encourages us, but his rhetoric has not yet fully matched his actions. Is this the mark of a collegial, pastoral approach or the sad reality of dealing with entrenched bishops and the Vatican Curia? Author and Catholic studies professor Paul Lakeland, Ph.D., has been observing Pope Francis and shares his views in this presentation.

Click here to see the presentation.

Pope Francis has issued his first Apostolic Exhortation, "Joy of the Gospel." Evangelii Gaudium expounds on the proclamation of the Gospel in today's world. Click here to read "Joy of the Gospel."