STATEMENT FROM JIM POST, PRESIDENT, VOICE OF THE FAITHFUL,
REGARDING THE REPORTED IMPENDING RESIGNATION OF
FRANK KEATING FROM THE NATIONAL REVIEW BOARD

Voice of the Faithful (VOTF) notes the reported resignation of former Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating as chairman of the U.S. Bishops' National Review Board with regret.

Governor Keating has provided important lay leadership to the Catholic Church -- and public service to all Americans -- at a time when the clergy sexual abuse scandal weighs heavily on the moral credibility of bishops, cardinals, and Church hierarchy. His language may have antagonized some, but his commitment to cleaning up the stain of scandal was never in doubt.

Governor Keating's resignation must not obscure the important work of the National Review Board as an independent lay Catholic fact- and truth-finding body. Voice of the Faithful calls on all members of the Board to renew their efforts to study independently and report publicly on the incidence and causes of clergy sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. VOTF also calls on all Catholic bishops to 1) cooperate completely and unambiguously with the National Review Board in its search for truth; and 2) reaffirm the commitment from their 2002 meetings in Dallas and Washington, D.C., to rid the Church of the sins and crimes that caused and enabled this crisis.

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