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VOICE OF THE FAITHFUL CONCLUDES HISTORIC REPRESENTATIVE
COUNCIL MEETING – CARDINAL LAW LACKS PASTORAL LEADERSHIP AND MUST
IMMEDIATELY RESIGN
Change the Catholic Church Culture of Secrecy,
Not Just the Archbishop
Newton, Mass., – December 11, 2002 – Voice of the Faithful
(VOTF), a group of more than 25,000 mainstream Catholics formed
in response to the Catholic Church’s clergy sexual abuse scandal,
today called for Cardinal Bernard F. Law to resign as Archbishop
of Boston.
The meeting of over 100 VOTF leadership individuals and parish
representatives, held at Our Lady Help of Christians parish in Newton,
Mass., discussed recent events and voted on four motions:
- To call
on Cardinal Law to resign immediately;
- To petition
the Holy Father to acknowledge the need for holy, pastoral leadership
in the Archdiocese of Boston; to acknowledge the urgency of this
need; and to appoint – only after meaningful consultation with
the Church of Boston, including the laity, the priests, the religious,
and the hierarchy – a suitable person to this position, which,
de facto, is not functioning at this time;
- To call
on Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, president of the United States Conference
of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), to request that the bishops, individually
and collectively, and in the spirit of their publicly stated commitments,
recognize and respond to the moral and pastoral crisis in the
Archdiocese of Boston; and
- To call
on Bishop Gregory to request that the bishops open to the public
the hidden records of known sexual abusers in their own dioceses.
After a thoughtful and thorough discussion by VOTF members, the
group overwhelmingly passed the four motions. VOTF President Jim
Post explained the vote, “This is an historic action by American
Catholics to reclaim the moral integrity of their church. The recent
files on abusive priests released to the public in Boston show a
systematic unwillingness to place the safety of the laity before
the reputation of the Catholic Church. Clearly, it’s time for a
change.”
Addressing the Catholic Church’s Culture of Secrecy
Moving forward, VOTF will be actively calling for a change in the
hierarchical culture of secrecy – a culture that disconnects its
actions from its values – that has fueled the crisis in the Catholic
Church. VOTF will continue to grow its membership and educate its
constituency, while standing ready to work with the hierarchy and
develop new methods for the laity to become effectively engaged
in the administrative, personnel and financial aspects of the Catholic
Church.
“We are under no illusions that today’s actions will end this crisis.
This is the first step on a long road to renewing the Catholic Church.
We all have a lot of work to do,” explained Susan Troy, VOTF’s “Prayerful
Voice” committee head.
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