MEDIA ALERT

Voice of the Faithful Responds To Leaked Draft of John Jay Report

Organization Spokespersons Available to the Media for Interviews and Comment

Voice of the Faithful President James Post, Executive Director Steve Krueger, and other representative of the organization that is the leading voice for lay Catholics are available to the media to provide commentary on the leaked draft report by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice chronicling 50 years of clergy sexual abuse of children.

It appears that bits and piece of this historic report are being systemically leaked to selected media prior to February 27, the date set for a press conference to nationally announce the study’s findings. This piecemeal approach to announcing a historical review of the worst tragedy in the modern history of the Catholic Church does not provided a fair and balanced view of the complexity of issues surrounding the release of this data. Voice of the Faithful is available to reporters to provide commentary, to voice the concerns of the laity of the Catholic Church, and to address critical steps regarding bishops’ accountability and lay responsibility that must be taken in light of the report’s anticipated findings.

Voice of the Faithful strongly believes that actions or the lack of actions resulting from this study will greatly affect the future of the Catholic Church and its parishioners. Voice of the Faithful spokespersons will be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the next few weeks to comment on this report.

All national press, Catholic press, and Greater Boston press are encouraged to contact. For more information, please contact Suzanne Morse at 617/558-5252 (office) or at 617/680-2131 (cell) or visit our website at www.votf.org.

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About Voice of the Faithful: Voice of the Faithful (VOTF) is a worldwide movement of concerned mainstream 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 in full accordance and harmony with Church teaching. VOTF’s supporting membership exceeds 30,000 registered persons from more than 41 U.S. states, 21 countries and 193 Parish Voice affiliates throughout the world.