Working
Group News
Supporting
Survivors
One
way you can make a difference by Christmas!
We
are busy selling our Winchester VOTF Christmas cards,
designed by artists at our affiliate. Thus far, we have
sold cards to persons in 13 states, both red (Florida,
Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Georgia) and
blue (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Wisconsin, New Jersey,
Rhode Island, New York, California). All proceeds will
benefit abuse survivors. Last year, we donated $4100
to SNAP to finance scholarships for survivors to attend
the SNAP conference in Denver. Please help us do even
better this year by placing an order and by spreading
the word! Cards are just $12 per package, and can be
ordered by mailing the order form available at our web-site
(http://www.votfwinchester.org
). Please notify me if there are any problems using
the links to the order form -- I will send you a form
by mail.
Bob Morris
Priests'
Support Working Group
The
November 13 VOTF New England conference session title
was "Repercussions, Reactions and Responses to the Church
Crises: Priests Reply." Three priests shared their personal
stories. Each was unique, emotional and touched the
audience. Clericalism went down several notches. When
truth and reconciliation is allowed to surface, healing
bubbles up. This prototype bears repetition. .
We
had time for just a few questions but many people came
forward to speak with each priest and thank him for
his honesty and courage. This type of panel was a first
for nearly all audience members. It is eye-opening to
put one's self in another's shoes. It produces unexpected
positive results and can be very therapeutic for all
present. The need of priest and people for each other
was dramatically illustrated. People were engaged and
learning but many were not prepared for the depth and
range of feeling.
David
Gibson, in his book The Coming Catholic Church, writes
"understanding clericalism and transforming that mentality
is the single most urgent priority for the coming Catholic
Church …. The chief relationship that needs tending
is that between priests and laity. The first step in
this process is for Catholics to see priests as the
human beings they are and for priests to accept that
view for themselves …."
The
panel consisted of Fr. Ron Bourgault, pastor of St.
Zepherin Parish, Wayland, MA; Fr. Robert Silva, parish
priest from Stockton, CA and president of the Chicago-based
National Federation of Priests' Councils; and Fr. Bruce
Teague. Pat Kelly McNulty
Structural
Change Working Group
SCWG
has completed the Survey
results on Parish Pastoral Councils. There is also
a link to this on the home page of the Web site. Note
from Margaret Roylance:
(The results of the survey on parish pastoral councils
carried out during the last year by the SCWG were presented
in the structural change breakout session in Worcester.)
The SCWG subcommittee on pastoral councils has worked
with Professor Chuck Zech of Villanova University to
analyze the results of the survey. The analysis indicates
that many parish pastoral councils are operating effectively
and collaboratively, especially those that have written
by-laws and whose members are not all appointed by the
pastor. There are parishes in every diocese in the US
without PPCs, however, and some of the existing councils
have all members appointed by the pastor, meet as infrequently
as once a year and almost never see their recommendations
implemented. Such councils are clearly in need of renewal,
and resources for establishing or renewing your PPC
may be found on the VOTF website, including sample by-laws
and links to excellent model parishes.
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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