VOTF
Regional News
VOTF
New England conference - Recap
Worcester Centrum, Worcester, MA November 13, 2004
The
only way I can approach a recap of yesterday's outstanding,
900-strong, New England regional conference in Worcester,
Mass., is to take off from the standpoint of our mission
statement and goals and look for signs of growth over
these nearly three years.
So
much was said that can not be recapped and for those
who want the "full Monty," you can order videos and
cassettes at www.resurrectiontapes.com.
The small VOTF lapel pins, which we ran out of at the
VOTF table, are also available at hgaps@healysgraphicark.com
.
In
the whole day of talks and workshops, prayer seems to
have survived our growing pains, new challenges, and
growing numbers in distant places. It is riveting to
hear so many people from so many places pray in Voice
of the Faithful language that emerged in our earliest
meetings - owning the words and spreading the conviction.
Prayerful
Voice had many times the number of attendees in their
Spirituality workshop than expected. People were far
less reluctant to speak candidly about their spiritual
lives and clearly more comfortable with the invitation
extended by facilitators Susan Troy and Sr. Betsy Conway
to "go deeper" in their prayer experiences. A report
appears below.
Three
years ago, survivors and survivor support groups took
their courage to meeting upon meeting to tell us of
their struggle with a past that haunted them for decades.
They spoke of their own lost childhoods and damaged
youth. They spoke from their hearts and won ours. They
shared their language and enhanced ours. They spoke
their anger and awakened ours. But this day was different.
Time and again, the leaders of survivor support, victims
of abuse themselves, Phil Saviano and David Clohessy
and Cindy Desrosiers talked about "protecting the kids"
- I thought I could not become more moved than I had
already been by these prophets in our day but here they
were, healing and healed, supported and supporting,
looking well beyond themselves to your children and
mine, your grandchildren and mine.
The
conference rang with hope for the lives that might be
spared - all who spoke from the survivors' perspective
noted that while pedophilia will not disappear "Kids
today will be more likely to a) know that something
is wrong, b) tell someone at once and c) be believed."
It was resoundingly painful to know again that today's
survivors did not have those tools for survival.
The
plenary panel spoke about a variety of actions any Catholic
might take - writing to attorneys general in support
of legislation that would eliminate statutes of limitation
- and addressed the vital success of media attention
on sexual abuse. David Clohessy made a point of advising
against writing to our bishops - "Educate and warn the
public; write to local papers. Remember the movie 'Field
of Dreams.' If you build it, they will come. Whether
you are group of five or 500, start a VOTF group."
Bishop
accountability took on the semblance of a mantra throughout
the day - the audience was reminded that District Attorneys
are elected; that major donors to the Church must also
be held accountable; that restorative justice can be
had in a secular system of law and order; that we should
be educated about the use of RICO legislation.
Along
the arc of Anne Barrett Doyle and Paul Baier of bishopaccountability.org
to survivors and supporters to the priests among us,
the pendulum swung safely and deliberately between justice
and protection.
Supporting
priests of integrity continues to be a painful ministry
with so many priests overworked and emotionally battered.
Fr. James Scahill of St. Michael's in East Longmeadow,
Mass, who was awarded the Priest of Integrity Award,
said how "regrettable it is that we need an award for
integrity." However, three years ago, few, if any, priests
were a) speaking out and b) calling for reinforcements.
Today we know of several associations of priests all
over the US, some of whom are in direct communication
with the USCCB over a broad range of issues. Fr. Scahill
called for his brother priests to walk this journey
with him alongside Fr. Tom Doyle and the survivors.
"Silence betrays truth," he said.
There
were 14 breakout sessions throughout the afternoon session;
several attendees and facilitators have offered their
own takes (below). Pat McNulty's report on the priests'
session appears under Priests' Support Working Group;
Margaret Roylance's notes on the Structural Change discussion,
Susan Troy's Prayerful Voice Report and other attendees'
reports appear below. PT
"There's
often a difference between facts and the truth. We should
know both." Susan Gallagher
"He
stood tall in the grey shadow of discontent." Spoken
during a tribute to Fr. Bob Bullock who died this year.
Fr. Bullock was pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows, Sharon,
MA.
"Catholics
are made to suffer more from than for the Church." Flannery
O'Connor quoted by Fr. James Scahill
Silence
betrays truth."
Fr.
Tom Doyle addresses conference. Photo credit Phil Gilson
"There
is turbulence in the struggle between truth and power."
Fr. James Scahill
"You
will create a new design that is fresh. You will choose
the pattern, You are the weavers." Sue Archibald, president
of the survivor support organization the Linkup and
director of the survivor relief facility The Farm.
"The
abuse of so many kids didn't happen because we didn't
have 'policies and procedures' and 'Policies and Procedures'
will not make it go away." David Clohessy, founder of
National SNAP
To
order audio/video tapes of the Worcester conference,
you can receive an order form via one of the following;
Some
recaps of a few sessions on November 13 submitted by
attendees and moderators follow.
From
John Moynihan - moderator "Renewable Church: The Authors'
Perspective"
I
moderated the session with Eileen Flynn, David Gibson
and Paul Lakeland. Well over 100 people kept this discussion
into overtime with their interest and the depth of their
questions.
One
of the ideas that emerged was the concept of a forum
of all Catholics interested in renewal, whether they
were centrist or to the right or left. It was felt that
all these groups should be part of the conversation
and part of the process. It's an exciting idea to bring
people to one place to dialogue with each other rather
than to bash each other within their particular media.
(See the Pilot, Nov 19, 2004) Author David Gibson feels
firmly that the only way to effect reform is to bring
people of various stripes together to work on the problem
with a spirit of mutual respect.
Donna
Doucette comments on the morning plenary gathering.
Panelists included Fr. Tom Doyle, Tom O'Neill, Gaile
Pohlhaus and Jim Post. The panel talk was "Toward Meaningful
Church Renewal."
Panelist
Jason Berry (author of "Lead Us Not into Temptation,"
one of the first books on the abuse crisis, and of the
recent "Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy
of John Paul II") said he would tell people to keep
up a steady stream of letters and information to the
Roman Curia. Oddly enough, he noted, the Curia are devoted
to opening and reading their mail. "They take their
mail very seriously." Sending "thoughtful, cogent letters
with documents and citations from legal cases" build
strata of information and data that ultimately can compel
the Vatican to take action. Berry later pointed out
to the attendees that concentrated letter-writing campaigns
complaining about "liberal" bishops already are a reality.
It's necessary to provide information from other standpoints.
Father
Tom Doyle, one of the first to warn the bishops about
clergy abuse and recipient of the first VOTF Priest
of Integrity award, said it is important to realize
that the two tiers within the Church -- one clergy and
one laity -- "is not the way it's supposed to be." Among
his other suggestions: Overcome the fear of speaking
up before clerics. Seek justice for all: the abused
as well as the priests who may be accused but not be
guilty. Move past our own internal urge to complain
and look to positive growth, which depends on internal,
personal renewal. Further, he noted, in contrast to
what the hierarchy once claimed, the abuse issue "is
not an American problem. It's an ecclesiastical problem."
Gaile
Polhaus from the Department of Theology and Religious
Studies at Villanova University, described the development
of a new model for the Church. The old model was one
of saints and hierarchs "up there and we, the petitioners,
down here" expected to pray, pay, and obey. But that
old model is not the one present at the beginning of
the Church. The original model was one of companionship
-- and it is a model that the women in history have
consistently maintained.
"We
cannot allow ourselves to be marginalized, nor to marginalize
others," Dr. Polhaus said. "We are all equal in the
eye of God." Dr. Polhaus then described several models
of organization and culture. Exclusivity regards others
as outsiders: "I belong to my tribe; you do not and,
therefore, you are not as good." Inclusivity welcomes
others into my group, along with me, but you then must
become like me. Complementarity recognizes that we are
different and allows each of us to remain different.
Mutuality, however, is the model that allows us to work
together while honoring and utilizing each other's differences.
Tom
O'Neill, former lieutenant-governor of Massachusetts
and a trustee for Boston College, opened his comments
by describing himself as "Catholic and I will be a Catholic
forever. But I'm a 5th-generation Catholic and a 4th-generation
politician, so I suggest to you a variation of the saying
that all politics is local. I say all religion is local
... We love ... the universality of our Church ... But
the Catholic Church has its reality at the parish level."
The parish level is where the crimes were committed,
Mr. O'Neill said. "The bishops are doing something,
yes," he said, "but the crisis also is treated as a
PR problem" with the attitude that soon we will be getting
back to normal. But what if
NORMAL
IS the problem?" Mr. O'Neill asked. What if the normal
clericalism, role of women, parish closings, are all
part of the problem? The decline in priestly vocations
is decades long and yet suddenly we must solve it in
a few weeks by closing parishes? What about the future
role of the laity?
Mr.
O'Neill also warned that "something new and dangerous
"h as been injected into America when bishops use the
sacraments to support a political position." His quarrel,
he said, is not just with bishops who would try to enforce
a reactionary political agenda by threatening Catholics
with the sacraments. "My quarrel is with those bishops
who stood by SILENTLY while other bishops spoke" for
a political agenda.
Susan
Troy reports on the Spirituality Workshop at the conference:
The
Spirit was generously present in every aspect of the
Worcester Conference, and especially welcomed and expressed
at the breakout session "A Movement of Faith/A Faith
Movement: VOTF and its Emerging Lay Spirituality." The
seventy to eighty people who chose to attend the session
highlighted the centrality of prayer and spirituality
in our movement. Those present prayed, reflected and
discerned together and bore great witness to VOTF's
powerful emerging lay spirituality. The Spirit is experienced
as profoundly present in the VOTF mission, VOTF gatherings
and all its work towards justice, healing and reform.
What is emerging is a spirituality configured in those
gathered, in the "communio" of prayer and mission, in
the genuine experience of the holy in our work. We identified
a reinvigorated spirituality based not in the bricks-and-mortar
Church, but in the genuine Church of the faithful gathered.
In particular, the group gave voice to a "new" understanding
of leadership and authority in the Church. Leadership
and authority are much more broadly understood and accepted
as genuine. Authentic leadership and authority is based
on the act of carrying forth the gospel of Jesus Christ
into the world and giving voice to gospel values. The
participants were encouraged to assume leadership roles
in maintaining the centrality of prayer in all VOTF
activities and meetings and to fostering the development
of Prayerful Voice working groups in affiliates.
Update
on RCAB Voice of Compassion Fund - several readers
have asked about the fund that bridged the charitable
giving gap early in the abuse crisis. David Castaldi
provides this update:
The
Voice of Compassion Fund was formed in July, 2002, to
provide financial support to our Church in Boston while
promoting financial transparency and accountability
in our Church. The Archdiocese of Boston refused to
accept directly any donations from the Fund because
it felt the Fund compromised the role of the Archbishop.
The Fund remained active from the time of our July 2002
national convention through the end of 2003. During
that time the Fund was very successful and cost-efficient
as it collected almost $154,000 from VOTF members and
friends and distributed over $152,000 to Catholic Charities
of Boston, after all expenses were paid to the National
Catholic Community Foundation (NCCF) and after any expenses
charged to VOTF (there were virtually none).
In
its final calendar year, the Fund did not collect a
sufficient amount to require NCCF to remain as Fund
administrator. The fund, therefore, became inactive
when NCCF exercised its contractual right to withdraw
as administrator of the Fund because it was losing money
on the administration of the fund. NCCF received fees
slightly in excess of $1000 per year from the fund and
its costs were very substantially in excess of its fees.
We have not found a way to continue the Fund in a cost-efficient
manner.
VOTF's
Financial Voice Working Group, which sponsored the Voice
of Compassion Fund, has become the Finance Committee
of VOTF's Structural Change Working Group so that it
can focus on VOTF's higher priority of defining and
working toward its goal of structural change in the
Church. In this "new life" the group has developed a
structural change document entitled "Principles for
Diocesan Finance Councils" that has been approved by
the VOTF Council and posted on the web site under "Structural
Change." The group is currently developing methods to
promote this document within Church circles and is drafting
a new document on "Principles for Parish Finance Councils."
I am chairing this subcommittee of the SCWG which is,
of course, chaired by Margaret Roylance.
Voice
of the Faithful, VOTF, "Keep the Faith, Change the Church,"
Voice of Compassion, VOTF logo(s), Parish Voice, and
Prayerful Voice are trademarks of Voice of the Faithful,
Inc.
Voice
of the Faithful is a 501(c) 3 tax-exempt organization.
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