For Immediate Release

STATEMENT FROM VOTF PRESIDENT JIM POST
REGARDING JUNE 2 AGREEMENT BETWEEN BISHOP O’BRIEN AND
MARICOPA COUNTY, AZ

Newton, Mass. - June 5, 2003 - Voice of the Faithful president Jim Post today issued the following statement:

The escalating consequences of the clergy sexual abuse crisis continue to rock the Catholic Church, this time in Maricopa County, Arizona. The June 2, 2003, agreement between Maricopa County Attorney Romley and Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien of the Diocese of Phoenix leaves much to be desired. It is weak in places where it should be strong; it is soft on issues where it should be hard. No report or documents are being released. Inadequate sums have been allocated for survivors’ compensation and counseling. The agreement leaves us thinking that this is too little punishment, too late, for abuse and cover-up that profoundly and permanently traumatized dozens of children/victims/survivors and their families. And it leaves many Catholic laypersons feeling that they have too greatly trusted a Church hierarchy that still disappoints at every recent turn.

The agreement between Maricopa County and Bishop O'Brien marks another step down the Catholic Bishops’ ‘Road of Shame.’” Since 2002, five Catholic bishops have resigned because of their involvement in the perpetration of clergy sexual abuse and the institutional cover-up it spawned. Two - Bishops O’Brien of Phoenix and McCormack of Manchester, NH - have narrowly escaped criminal indictment. At least a dozen have been subpoenaed to testify at Grand Jury investigations. In Arizona, County Attorney Rowley insisted that Bishop O’Brien surrender a measure of authority over child protection to independent administrators, subject to government oversight.

In the face of all this, we must ask, when will the Vatican decide that the creation of credible, moral leadership is Job #1 in America's Catholic Church? When will the Vatican act, or at least speak, pastorally and insightfully on this issue?

The people of any diocese are entitled to moral leadership in their Church. Their faith requires moral teaching by qualified leaders whose pastoral skills inspire confidence - not cynicism and distrust - among the lay Faithful. In Phoenix, in Boston, in Palm Beach, in New Hampshire, and throughout America and the world, the Faithful are entitled to say to Vatican officials, “No, this man is not qualified to be the servant-leader of our Church.”

Despite its weaknesses, the Marciopa County agreement does suggest one important point of hope: it can and will spark renewed determination among lay Catholics to insist and ensure that their Church operates in “sunlight,” with transparent processes of financial, personnel, and information management.

This is not a decision to celebrate. It is another cause to weep for a Church that has still not told the truth, and a Vatican leadership that has still not removed, or even reprimanded, those bishops who disgraced us and allowed thousands of innocent children to be raped and abused for decades. Our Church will not heal until there is truth, justice, and reconciliation.

That day is not yet near. But it is one step closer.