For Immediate Release

BOSTON-AREA VOICE OF THE FAITHFUL HOLDS FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND CONFERENCE TO DISCUSS BOSTON ARCHDIOCESE’S FUTURE

Newton, Mass. - June 10, 2003 - In an historic gathering, members of 45 Voice of the Faithful affiliates in the Archdiocese of Boston met on June 7, Voice of the Faithful (VOTF) announced today. Over 300 lay Catholics from parishes throughout the Archdiocese came together at Our Lady Help of Christians parish in Newton to participate in the conference called, Awakening to the Spirit, Envisioning the Future. The purpose of this Boston-VOTF conference was to develop a vision for the parishes and Archdiocese of Boston in 2005, and to determine steps that the lay faithful can take to execute that vision.

Conference organizer and VOTF vice president Ann Carroll commented on the extraordinary grass roots activities which preceded the conference, citing “several pre-conference meetings held at affiliate locations throughout Boston, during which VOTF members completed a questionnaire to articulate their vision, develop workshop topics, and propose next steps for the Archdiocese.”

At the conference, which was held on the eve of Pentecost, participants attended 10 action-focused workshops on topics determined by their questionnaire responses. Carroll commented, “Boston Catholics have heard the call of the Spirit and are eager to be active participants in rebuilding our Church, starting with this blueprint for the future. Our immediate priorities include representative, elected, and fully functional Parish Pastoral Councils and Finance Councils; healing programs for victim/survivors of clergy sex abuse; increased sharing of best practices, such as programs to keep our children safe; greater communication and collaboration among clergy, laity, survivors, and Archdiocesan officials; and an expansion of lay education programs.”

In a “kickoff” speech to participants, VOTF president Jim Post said, “We know that a new Archbishop is not the only answer to Boston’s problems. VOTF will warmly welcome the new Archbishop, whoever he is. We will extend the hand of friendship and collaborate with him in an open, arms-length manner. But we have lived through too much in these past eighteen months to believe that one man can solve the problems our Church faces. These are our problems, and we - laity, clergy, survivors, and bishop - must solve them together or they will not truly be solved.”

Post offered both a caution and a hope: “We in Boston have learned too much, lived through too much in these 18 months, to slide back into old ways. If a new Archbishop disrespects our experience, pain, and learning, he will fail. On the other hand, if he respects what we have lived through, learns from us, and can capitalize on all that we have learned about our faith and our Church, there can be a renewal of the Spirit and revitalization of the institution.”

Author Paul Lakeland, professor of theology at Fairfield University, followed with a keynote address in which he offered a historical/spiritual perspective for participants’ hopes for renewal: “The spirit of God is not timid, or afraid of the future, and nor should we be. At Pentecost, the Spirit turned frightened men into apostles, who fearlessly proclaimed the Gospel despite the personal cost, and who marched confidently into a future whose outlines were considerably less clear than our own. We are bound to the Gospel, we are bound to the best of our past, and we are responsible to the future. If the Church lasts another ten thousand years, when they look back to us they will classify us as “the early Church.” Let us not let them down.”

Boston-VOTF member Margaret Roylance described a key part of the draft “Vision Statement” produced at the end of the conference: “The first paragraph of the statement, our vision for 2005, reflected the feelings of a vast majority of the responding affiliates, and included an important and spiritually grounding reference to communion. The paragraph reads, ‘On the eve of Pentecost in 2005, Catholics are using their gifts in a groundswell of lay participation in the life of the Boston Archdiocese. We are the Church, in communion with our Bishop as spiritual leader.’ The Vision Statement ends, ‘We will never again look away. Tested by fire, we have found new strength. We are Church together and we thrive on it.’”

In comments following the conference, VOTF president Post said, “The spirit of inclusion, listening, and respect that was demonstrated at this conference models the values the Archdiocese must adopt with regard to laypersons, survivors, and parish clergy. Members of all of these groups feel marginalized at present. With the coming of a new Archbishop, we renew our hope that these groups will be included in developing solutions for this troubled Archdiocese.”

Boston-VOTF will issue the conference’s Vision Statement, plus the numerous specific action-step recommendations that were developed in the 10 action workshops, in a comprehensive post-conference report.

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