Voice of the Faithful Focus – A brief update highlighting both a problem in our church and some progress being made as we work together to Keep the Faith, Change the Church.

Progress

VOTF members rally to support our message during the Pope’s visit
In just a few days time more than 1,000 Voice of the Faithful members responded to our appeal to raise the necessary funds to place a full page ad in the New York Times on the occasion of the Pope’s visit. As this is being written, funds continue to pour in – funds which will be used in other awareness efforts associated with the Pope’s visit. In addition, local and national media have been interviewing VOTF staffers and volunteers about the ad effort – and more importantly, about our message. So, your donations already have the enhanced effect of both paying for advertising and generating free news coverage to spread our message.

To view the ad mock-up click here

Problem

Embezzlements continue to plague our Church
In December 2005 researchers at Villanova University reported that 85% of the US dioceses surveyed reported at least one case of embezzlement in the previous 5 years. VOTF has been tracking news stories of embezzlements since January 2006 and we have currently tallied 67 cases totaling over $28.8 million. Every month the numbers grow, as indicated by a few recent stories from the news:

National Catholic Reporter chronicles a scandal at the diocesan level in Cleveland.
http://ncronline.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2008a/032108/032108m.htm

In Chicago a business manager was arrested for stealing $250,000
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/861219,CST-NWS-church26.article

This was the second time the pastor had a problem in his church
http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/religion/863685,CST-NWS-church27.article
(He was recently removed when parishioners requested an audit.)

In New Jersey a bookkeeper embezzled $173K http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-9/1205818584270600.xml&coll=1 

In Florida a bookkeeper stole over $100,000 http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080331/NEWS/803310370/1661

In New York a pastor was removed for stealing to feed his gambling habit http://www.auburnpub.com/articles/2008/03/31/latest_news/latestnews04.txt