William J Fallon
Candidate for Vice President

As a close observer and active participant in the entire life of Voice of the Faithful, I feel it a privilege to seek a more active role in its governance. We now find ourselves at the beginning of a few crucial developmental years in the life of our organization. We must now put in place a set of fair, clear governance policies that will encourage and promote both affiliate and non-affiliate membership growth. We need to develop equitable membership representation on our National Council, establish more comprehensive recordkeeping capabilities, unify our databases, secure more professional fundraising and managerial and information technology talent, and, in short, prepare ourselves for the next round of growth in membership and resources.

While it may seem paradoxical to stress organizational discipline without mentioning our goals and mission, it is clear to me that we can do a much better job supporting victims, priests of integrity and meaningful structural change if we develop a firm organizational foundation now. Our decision-making will be better, our fundraising will be more successful, our unity will widen, our outside recognition and acceptance will grow, and, most important, we will demonstrate that we are more than capable of providing meaningful participation in the life and growth of the Catholic Church. All of this while we are constantly guided by our strong faith in the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Church.

My extensive personal experience with Voice of the Faithful includes membership on the original Steering Committee, program chair of the July, 2002 Boston convention, membership on the national Development (fundraising) Committee, ad-hoc involvement with the current Governance Committee, computer consulting and project development, gift acknowledgements, membership in the vital Structural Change Working Group, membership on the 2004 Worcester Conference planning committee and coordinator of registration, and a strong attendance and participation record at National Council meetings.

In my home parish, I have been a member of the Parish Pastoral Council of St. Julia in Weston (Geoghan’s last assignment), a lector, and am developing what is hoped will be a model Safe Environment Program for the parish.

I am married, father of four, grandfather of five, graduated twice from the University of Pennsylvania (Wharton MBA), and after working for several large corporations and consulting groups, established my own software company in the last thirteen years before my “retirement.”