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Please
send comments and inquiries to pthorp.ed@votf.org.
"The
stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone."
Psalm
119: 22
In
this issue, readers
will note hope for justice in Alaska and Delaware; concern for
justice in New York NY, Portland OR and San Diego CA;
and acts toward justice in VOTF affiliates from Twin
Cities MN to Bridgeport CT. VOTF invites you to share
your own hopes, concerns and acts for justice - write
to pthorp.ed@votf.org.
A resolution
passed by the NRC and awaiting concurrence by the officers
would explore the "Current State
of the Priesthood and its Ability to Meet the Needs of
the Faith Community." See the
full text of the resolution here,
including the voting tally.
AFFILIATE
Highlight: Twin Cities, Minnesota will sponsor
a discussion on “Voices of Hope: Educating About
Nuns Who Sexually Abuse Within the Catholic Community.” Read
more.
DIOCESE/State Watch
| Eyes
on New York Archdiocese of Rockville Center: An
abuse trial before the jury in State Supreme
Court in Nassau County began on Monday April 16.
The case involves a youth minister, not a priest.
According to the New York Times of April
16, “A rare civil trial involving sexual
abuse and the Roman Catholic Church … is
noteworthy not only for its potential for disturbing
testimony, but also for the fact that it has gotten
this far at all. Despite thousands of complaints
of sexual abuse of children involving the Catholic
Church in the United States in recent years, few
have resulted in court cases, and most of those
never come to trial. A vast majority of the abuse
lawsuits ended in settlements, with the victims
and the accused spared the embarrassment of testifying.” New
York Times subscribers can access
the story or visit the Voice
from the Desert blog.
VOTF
California reports welcome news: “The
Archbishop of San Francisco, George Niederauer,
has responded to San Francisco VOTF's request to
appoint a liaison to further communication and
cooperation between our organization and the Archdiocese.” The
Archbishop has asked VOTF to be involved in an
upcoming lay convocation in the Northern California.
VOTF San Francisco was instrumental in the planning
of the gathering to take place in June of this
year.
Portland
OR: “With
the approval of a bankruptcy reorganization for
the Archdiocese of Portland expected …, church
reformers fear that the archdiocese has succeeded
in avoiding public accountability for decades of
child sexual abuse by priests.” For a VOTF
and SNAP perspective, see the Register-Guard.
The Child
Victims Act was passed by the Senate in Delaware
and now awaits passage in the House. According
to VOTF members in Delaware the Delaware Catholic
Conference did not mount opposition to the bill,
which drew support from a strong coalition of supporters.
VOTF Coastal Delaware’s John Sullivan had
his letter supporting SB 29 published in the diocesan
newsletter, alongside that of another supporter
of the bill. Go to “The Dialogue” at
cdow.org. Also,
read Fr. Tom Doyle’s Delaware testimony:
TESTIMONY OF THOMAS DOYLE, J.C.D., C.A.D.C., IN
SUPPORT OF
S.B. 29, STATE OF DELAWARE on the VOTF
website.
Sadly,
the San Diego diocese accounting
system prompted, “a federal judge overseeing
the bankruptcy proceedings …[to order] an outside
accounting expert to sort through what she called, ‘the
most Byzantine accounting system I have ever seen ….’” The
judge believes the accounting practices may have
been “reckless” but “not malicious.” Subscribers
can access The New
York Times, April
12th story. Earlier this month, the Arizona Star reported: “A
Tucson attorney was scheduled to appear in federal
court in San Diego today to defend herself against
claims that her client, the Roman Catholic Diocese
of San Diego, attempted to shift funds to parishes
without court approval.” Read
more.
REMINDER: As
noted in the April 5 Vineyard – VOTF
Bridgeport CT and the chair of Catholic
Studies at Fairfield University will present “Follow
the Money: Financial Accountability in the Catholic
Church” on Saturday April 28. For information,
click here.
Legislative
action to protect children is lively in several states: Alaska,
Connecticut, Idaho and Delaware. For a quick
look at articles/reports from these states and the
Connecticut Attorney General’s written testimony, click
here.
To
read additional DIOCESE/State
Watch updates in
Burlington VT; Bridgeport CT; and New York NY go
to the navigation bar and click on DIOCESE/State
Watch.
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BOOK
Review:VOTF’s Anne Southwood reviews
Dr. Mary Gail Frawley-O’Dea’s book Perversion
Of Power: Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church. Vanderbilt
University Press, Nashville TN, 2007.
Commentary -
former VOTF president and current VOTF trustee Jim Post
comments on the recent recognition paid to David O’Brien
by Holy Cross College. See “Called to Action: David
O’Brien”
LITURGICAL
Reading: Stan and Eileen Doherty offer a liturgical
reading plus.
What's this?
SITE-Seeing,
Etc.
MONDAY,
April 23: Some events ARE guaranteed to stimulate. Boston
College’s Church in the 21st Century Center will
present “Catholic Senators and Presidential
Candidates: Their Faith and Public Policy,” once
again moderated by Tim Russert. For more information and
to register, click
here. .
The ongoing
discussion of “The Church Women Want,” co-sponsored
by the Catholic Common Ground Initiative, will be held
at Graymoor Abbey, Garrison NY during a weekend retreat
April 20-22. Fairfield University professor Elizabeth Dreyer
will speak on “Medieval Women Mystics: Weird or Wonderful?” For
details and registration, call (845) 424-2111 or visit graymoorcenter.org.
Cost: $155 Single—$110 per person double.
Pope
Benedict XVI is taking up considerable print space in some
major publications lately. The New York Times Sunday
Magazine of April 8 and the April 2 issue of the New
Yorker offer illuminating perspectives on this Pope’s
understanding of the Catholic Church in the world.
FYI – “Deliver
Us From Evil” will be available on DVD
on May 8. Click
here.
For commentary
on American Catholics Today: New Realities of Their
Faith and Their Church by William V. D'Antonio, James
D. Davidson, Dean R. Hoge and Mary L. Gautier go to http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0701908.htm.
Commonweal magazine
article of April 6, 2007 considers why people leave the
Church. Click
here.; another article expresses concerns over some
reformers’ “vengeance.”
Possibly,
a CREATIVE Response on Behalf of Protecting Our Children:
Diocese of Winona MN. The Diocese
of Winona in partnership with Professional
Learning Board launched an
interactive online learning community teaching members
of the Catholic diocese about recognizing and reporting
child abuse. Learn
more and let us know what you think at pthorp.ed@votf.org.
Voice
control trumps dialogue again:
The April 6 issue of National Catholic Reporter offers
a Wire Services perspective on the recently denounced
Marquette University professor Daniel Maguire for writings
that US bishops found “erroneous and incompatible
with the church’s teaching.” Subscribers
can read
the full text. Maguire has been banned from speaking
on church property in the diocese of Milwaukee; his tenure
and academic freedom at Marquette remain in tact.
- In
the same issue of NCR, see commentaries “Abuse
crisis changes Catholic schools” and “Catholics
must rethink parochial school system”
QUOTE
for our time: Thanks
to Janet Hauter, VOTF Chicago, for an Anne Lamott quote: “Hope
begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just
show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will
come.”
CORRECTION to
the April 5 issue of the Vineyard: Our new affiliate
at Eastern Iowa VOTF is in Iowa, not Michigan as noted
(although VOTF Kansas is, in fact, in Ohio!) Thanks to
our readers for the catch.
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