FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VOICE OF THE FAITHFUL NAMES RENOWNED
CANON LAWYER AS OUTSIDE CONSULTANT

Move Seen As Major Step in Asserting VOTF's Demand to Participate
Responsibly in Catholic Church Decisions and to Meet on Church Property

In an open letter to Voice of the Faithful membership, President Jim Post signaled the group's intention to build "an informed, credible and effective voice" for lay Catholics by announcing the retention of Ladislas Orsy, S.J. as the group's professional outside consultant in canon law and related matters.

Voice of the Faithful has been banned from Church property in Rockville Center, NY; Bridgeport, CT; Bend, OR; North Andover, MA; Portland, ME; and Camden, NJ. According to Post, "VOTF has been effectively condemned without any hearing, any due process, or any precise charge."

Commenting on the bannings, 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."

Post went on, "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."

Post's letter, dated September 2002, read as follows:

Dear Members of Voice of the Faithful,

The intent of Voice of the Faithful has been from the beginning to work for a greater participation of the laity in the operations of the Church. This work is inspired by Catholic traditions, animated by Catholic doctrines, and always within the framework of the Church's constitutional structures. We are convinced that such fidelity is the best way to safeguard the unity of the Faithful while honoring the great diversity of God's gifts among his people. We see our movement as an expression of the widely spread aspiration in the Catholic Church to see the insights and desires of Vatican Council II implemented in a practical way.

In the beginning, as we gradually articulated our goals, not having any professional training in matters theological and canonical, we used expressions that were correctly meant but could be misunderstood as asking for destructive changes in the Church. Indeed, in editorials and statements we have been accused of aberrations that we condemn as much as our accusers do. Worse still, our ecumenical hospitality to various groups of other inspiration has been falsely interpreted - in spite of our protestations - as an approval of their convictions.

In such circumstances it became imperative for us to look for an expert whose professional competence is beyond any doubt, is an outsider to our movement free from any semblance of conflict of interest, and is capable of giving the leadership of the movement objective information and independent advice concerning any legal issue that may arise.

It seemed to us that the best way to find such a consultant was to invite someone who is in a university environment, not engaged in the administrative structures of the church, yet with expertise and experience in canonical matters.

Accordingly, we approached Rev. Ladislas Orsy, S.J., Professor of Jurisprudence and Canon Law at Georgetown University Law School and asked him to serve as professional outside consultant to the leadership of Voice of the Faithful. I am glad to report that he has accepted our offer.

Fr. 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. An additional expertise that he can bring into his work is his knowledge and experience concerning Vatican Council II: during the whole time of the Council he was teaching in Rome and was an expert for several bishops. He is an internationally known and respected scholar in church law; much of his work in the last decades is about the implementation of the vision of the Council by way of appropriate legislation.

This act of reaching for competent advice should be understood as another step to demonstrate publicly the intent of Voice of the Faithful to remain faithful to the Church and find the best ways and means to work for our own goal to promote a movement for a greater share for the laity in the life and operations of the Church following our ancient traditions and obeying the aspirations and directions of Vatican Council II.

Please know that VOTF's lay leadership council, officers and trustees remain committed, with each of you, to building an informed, credible and effective voice of the laity in the Catholic Church we love.

Sincerely,

Jim Post
President

About Voice of the Faithful
Voice of the Faithful is a Newton, Mass.-based organization of concerned Catholics formed in response to the clergy sexual abuse crisis. The group's mission is to provide a prayerful voice, attentive to the Spirit, through which the Faithful can actively participate in the governance and guidance of the Catholic Church. Its goals are to support victim/survivors of abuse, support priests of integrity, and shape structural change within the Catholic Church. VOTF's supporting membership exceeds 25,000 registered individuals from more than 40 U.S. states and 21 countries.

Contact: Mike Emerton,
VOTF Press Secretary,
617-680-2131