Contact: Richard Taylor, rktpbt@att.net, (215) 248-3178.

For Immediate Release

SEX ABUSE A SYMPTON OF DEEPER MALADY IN CATHOLIC CHURCH

September 23, 2005 - In a press statement released today, Voice of the Faithful of Greater Philadelphia said that the Philadelphia Grand Jury report lays bare once again the dreadful reality of sexual abuse of our children by Catholic clergy and the disastrous role of our Catholic leaders in covering up this criminal and immoral behavior. Even more, it points to a deeper malady in our Church which must be addressed.

(Voice of the Faithful of Greater Philadelphia is an affiliate of the 30,000 member national Voice of the Faithful, created in Boston by concerned Catholics when the sex abuse scandal first broke into the news.)

Terrible crimes have been committed against innocent children, the VOTF/GP statement said, but, because of the statute of limitations and other loopholes in Pennsylvania's laws, no one will be held legally responsible. If our children are to be protected, these laws must change. VOTF/GP is cooperating with other groups in pressing for legislative initiatives to correct this failing.

However, these legislative steps, while extremely important, are not enough. Studying the abuse crisis for the last three years, VOTF has become convinced that the horrendous sexual abuse IS SYMPTOMATIC OF A MUCH DEEPER MALADY IN OUR BELOVED CATHOLIC CHURCH. That malady is a Church governing structure that deprives the vast majority of Catholics -- the laity -- of any meaningful voice in the governance and guidance of the Church. If we, lay mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles, had been present at the table of decision-making when our Church leaders first discussed priests' abuse of our children, there would have been no cover-up. We would have insisted that this abomination be dealt with forcefully and immediately.

Furthermore, if we were present in Church decision-making, the Church would be transparent, open and accountable to its members, rather than secretive and unaccountable as it is today. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia, for example, would be willing to release the list of priests who have been credibly charged with sexual abuse, so that other survivors could come forward and parents could exercise due caution in protecting their children. The Archdiocese and each parish would reveal their financial status in open, honest, complete reports, including amounts spent on abuse case settlements and legal fees, rather than keeping Catholics totally in the dark about what has happened to our hard-earned financial contributions to the Church.

We commend the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for the steps it has taken to address sexual abuse, such as developing a code of conduct for those working with children, instituting "safe environment" programs, and creating the Office of Victims Assistance. But these steps are only a small beginning toward the deep reforms that need to happen so that our Church can again hold up its head, rather than being a laughingstock, the butt of jokes and cartoons.

VOTF here and around the country is developing new initiatives toward an accountable Church. These will unfold in the coming months. They will insist, for example, that Church finances be reported fully and accurately at every level, from parish to Archdiocese. They will insist that Finance Councils and Parish Councils, with elected laity as full participants, be instituted at every level of the Church. They may even propose that the laity be involved in choosing our own bishops through a process of elected representatives of the laity, priests, deacons and vowed religious, in communion with our bishops and the Holy See.

Only steps like these, we believe, will bring about an open and accountable Church in which parents will no longer have to fear for their children and in which all Catholics will have the opportunity to be fully informed about -- and meaningfully involved in -- the Church of which they are a part.
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