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Please send
comments and inquiries to pthorp.ed@votf.org.
“To
reach out in forgiveness does not exclude, in fact
it must be accompanied by, holding people accountable
and struggling to make that happen.” Bishop
Gumbleton in a talk delivered during the VOTF Mid-Michigan
Healing Service on April 2
In
this Issue:
In
a decisive nod to victims of clergy sexual
abuse, the U.S. Supreme Court refused
to hear an appeal by the archbishop of Los
Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahony, and two unnamed
priests who wanted to block a subpoena for
internal church records. See DIOCESE/State
Watch for more;
BREAKING
News: As Cardinal (then Archbishop)
O'Malley promised months ago, the Archdiocese
of Boston has responded (April 19) to calls
for financial transparency in the Archdiocese. Click
here for the Financial Transparency
Report for fiscal years 2004/2005. The Archdiocese
press release is available
here. Read the VOTF Boston press
release on our web site.
Bishop-Accountability.org notes
that the Chicago archdiocese published an incomplete
list of clergy accused of sexually abusing
a minor. Calling it a “heartless information
gap,” the organization provided a list
of 28 additional names; two conservative
Catholic organizations have joined in the call
for Cardinal George’s resignation.
See more in DIOCESE/State
Watch;
Dr.
Patricia Ewers, chair of the USCCB National
Review Board, spoke at the April 4 VOTF SW
Florida meeting. She was no happier
with compliance audits than others concerned
about protecting children. See Commentary
for recap and comments from VOTF members – “NRB
Chair Speaks with VOTF”;
From
calls for a cardinal’s resignation to
quiet witness, Good Friday vigils marked
the Easter Triduum for many; see VOTF
Louisville, KY Commentary – “Good Friday Vigil:
Bearing Witness”;
Fr.
Tom Doyle says, “The clergy
sex abuse phenomenon has changed the way
Catholics communicate with bishops. Accustomed
to always controlling every situation, the
bishops have reluctantly learned that this
is no longer the case.” See
more in Commentary;
VOTF
update – Read “Chicago,
VOTF and Next Steps” in Commentary. |
DIOCESE/State
Watch
Los Angeles, CA: The April 18 Boston
Globe reported (excerpt): “The Supreme
Court yesterday cleared the way for prosecutors to
obtain sex-abuse records from the Catholic Church,
a decision that could affect hundreds of cases in
which priests have been accused of molesting children.
In the child molestation case, the court turned down
an appeal by the archbishop of Los Angeles, Cardinal
Roger Mahony, and two unnamed priests who wanted
to block a subpoena for internal church records.
The order lets stand a state-court ruling that allows
the Los Angeles County district attorney to obtain
pastoral counseling records that could reveal the
priests' confessions and any psychological treatment.” The
full story is here .
For additional coverage:
Joliet,
IL: Only two weeks ago, Bishop Imesch
of the Joliet diocese won broad support from survivors
and reform advocates for his decision to post on
the diocesan web site the names of diocesan priests
against whom credible accusations of sexual abuse
with a minor had been made. Last week, a Chicago
newspaper reported that during a Holy Week Mass,
Bishop Imesch touted a priest who had only recently
been accused of abusing a minor. One person in
the congregation stood up and objected. Go to the Herald
News online.
Chicago,
IL: “Boston-based Bishop-Accountability.org said
Monday that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago
had published an incomplete list of clergy accused
of sexually abusing minors and offered a roster
with 28 additional names. The alternative list
released by BishopAccountability.org includes 13
religious order priests, one deacon, three extern
clergy, four priests accused posthumously, three
priests accused of sexual misconduct with adults
and one resigned priest for whom an allegation
was never substantiated by the church.” Read
More. Also, visit snapnetwork.org.
- From Medill
News Service/Northwestern University: “Two
conservative Roman Catholic groups joined their
liberal counterparts on Wednesday in calling
for Cardinal Francis George to resign. Michael
Tario of the Ad Hoc Committee for the Prevention
of Clergy Sex Abuse, and Paul Picchietti of
the Roman Catholic Faithful lambasted George
as being unresponsive to parishioners' concerns
about sexual misconduct by priests.”
VOTF Long Island, NY reminder: The
Diocesan Finance Council petition drive will be
conducted on the weekends of April 29/30 and May
6/7. Read the petition at www.votf-li.org. Philadelphia,
PA: The Philadelphia Inquirer notes, “Three
more Catholic priests who sexually abused boys
have been removed from the clergy, including one
said to have molested ‘countless children’ for
years, bringing to 17 the number of Archdiocese
of Philadelphia priests defrocked in the church
sex scandal.” For the full story, click
here.
Ireland: The Irish
Independent reports that the Minister for
Children, Brian Lenihan, has appointed Dr. Helen
Buckley, a Trinity College academic, to monitor
implementation of the Catholic Church's new child
protection guidelines in the Republic. Dr Helen
Buckley was a member of the inquiry into the diocese
of Ferns which highlighted over 100 allegations
of child sex abuse by 21 priests from 1962 to 2002.
Dr. Buckley’s charge is to review and assess
how adequately the bishops are operating the new
child protection procedures contained in “Our
Children, Our Church.”
WORKING
GROUP Update
Voice of Renewal/ Lay Education Working
Group: The Voice of Renewal/ Lay Education
Working Group is featuring an annotated bibliography
of some of the many interesting books available
to awaken and nourish our VOTF mission. To check
out Virtual Study Groups, Faith Sharing Models,
Educational Resources, and Book Summaries, go to VOR_VOTF-owner@yahoogroups.com (underscore
between VOTF and VOR) to have access to all of
these materials and more. Let us know what you
think at pthorp.ed@votf.org.
Working with Prayerful Voice in Maine: The Northern York
County VOTF will hold our Annual Prayer Service in Support of Victims and
their families on Tuesday, April 25th at Most Holy Trinity Church on Main
St. Saco at 7 p.m. The Portland affiliate and the Maine Council will support
us in this special endeavor and will encourage other Catholic groups to
attend. Our goal is to increase participation by all who hope and pray
for healing and renewal. Contact has been made with Jara Goodrich, Principal
Harpist, Portland Symphony Orchestra, and she has agreed to accompany the
liturgy with us. An invitation has been extended to the Knights of Columbus
to also participate in whatever manner they deem appropriate. A planning
committee will be convened to design the format and to choose the most
meaningful liturgy. If you would like to help in this regard, please e-mail
me at jbuonomo@maine.rr.com.
SURVIVOR
Community News
VOTF Winchester Area: Thanks to
the generosity of two talented artists in our group
(Harvey Cote and Francis Baratta), we are selling
note cards to benefit clergy abuse survivors. The
cards cost $10 for a package of 8, containing two
cards each of four different designs by our artists.
All proceeds will benefit survivors. The cards
are blank inside, and contain the VOTF web address
on the back. To preview the cards and order, visit
our web-site at www.votfwinchester.org and
print and mail the order form with your payment.
Please contact Bob Morris at rmorrisvotf@aol.com with
any problems or questions. Thank you for your support!
A
Call for Vigilance: USA
Today posted the
following on April 12: “The Catholic Church
is having early success in fighting proposals in
state legislatures that would permit people claiming
they were sexually abused as children to sue priests
and other church officials long after the alleged
offenses occurred. Measures proposed in nine states
would suspend statutes of limitation and allow
lawsuits to be filed regardless of when an alleged
offense took place. The proposals are patterned
on a 2003 California law that allowed a one-year
window for suits to be filed there without regard
to the statute of limitations.”
- “No
common profile among priest abusers found” according
to the NRB and noted in National
Catholic Reporter, April 14; also, referencing
Manchester, NH, see “Deficiencies found
in diocese’s child protection policies” in
the same issue. The April 6 issue of In the
Vineyard also provides coverage of the Manchester,
NH situation.
CALENDAR
Watch:
Sunday, APRIL 23: Eugene Kennedy
address “The World, the Flesh and the Catholic
Church” at Trinity High School, Newton, MA.
See details at www.ourladysfriends.org.
Saturday,
APRIL 29: VOTF Bridgeport, CT
and Fairfield University to co-sponsor Fr. Richard
McBrien talk on “The Election of Bishops:
Return to Tradition” at Fairfield University.
Go to www.votfbpt.org for
details.
Sunday,
APRIL 30: Boston College is marking the
50th anniversary of American Catholics and
the Intellectual Life by historian Msgr. John
Tracy Ellis. A forum will focus on “State of Mind:
The Intellectual Life of American Catholics.” Go
to the Events calendar at www.bc.edu for
details. Letters
to the Editor (write to pthorp.ed@votf.org):
The separation of institution and faith question in the last Vineyard sparked
some thoughtful responses; the April 10 issue of America magazine offers
an interesting perspective on “New Standards for Pastoral Care” and
notes some surprising implications for all of us, including bishops.
QUOTE
for our time:
Thanks to Anne Southwood, VOTF Boston, for this Henri Nouwen find on “The
Authority of Compassion”:
Mostly
we think of people with great authority as higher
up, far away, hard to reach. But spiritual authority
comes from compassion and emerges from deep inner
solidarity with those who are "subject" to
authority.
The
one who is fully like us, who deeply understands
our joys and pains or hopes and desires, and who
is willing and able to walk with us, that is the
one to whom we gladly give authority and whose "subjects" we
are willing to be.
It
is the compassionate authority that empowers, encourages,
calls forth hidden gifts, and enables great things
to happen. True spiritual authorities are located
in the point of an upside-down triangle, supporting
and holding into the light everyone they offer their
leadership to.
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