In the Vineyard
February 2005

"The world advances by impossibilities achieved." Charles Russell Lowell

No one would have said three years ago that an organization such as Voice of the Faithful was impossible but looking back, that alone is rather striking. Most who have been involved in VOTF know the hills we've climbed, the hurdles thrown in our way, the ugliness of squabbling over justice, the meanness of "holy" spirits, and the shock of failed systems at the hands of people who continue to occupy their once-graced perches. Yet VOTF has survived, not because so many millions of Catholics recognized justice under siege and not because the offending institution recognized a better path to "communio." If you're reading this column, you are doing so within a community of people who knew three years ago and know today that we are "called." That's why VOTF can stay this course. Considering the past three years, there can be no other explanation for the continued interest, support and energy for a movement that measures success by the day, faith by each other and justice by our witness to survivors.

And here we are, hard at work on our second international convocation - calling together our members and supporters, new friends and "friends-in-waiting." Like the day after the 2002 conference, attendees to the July 9-10, 2005 Indianapolis convention will reflect on the same sense of faith realized, Catholicism animated and justice shared that brought us together in the first place. We were called in 2002; we are called again to answer again, "Adsum." ("I am here.") Donald Cozzens in his book Faith That Dares To Speak expands on what we mean when we answer that call in this way. He translates Adsum for today's Catholics as "I am here, as a full, equal, adult member of the Catholic Church - and I expect to be treated as such by the authorities."

Together we face ongoing news about financial mismanagement in our parishes and dioceses; the odd juxtaposition of a Massachusetts abuser priest convicted and an Ohio parish priest applauded; the arrogance of clerical power; and concerns over the future of the USCCB Charter and Norms. These don't make for the most attractive invitation to getting involved, do they? It might be far more enticing to accept an invitation from our Church to "gather 'round the table" to be heard and to affirm each other in our different ministries. Until that sunny day, we have Voice of the Faithful doing the inviting. We remind each other in VOTF that saying "We are the Church" is the most inclusive of statements: The bishops who continue to hold jobs they should have left three years ago and those who will not rest until they do, are siblings one to the other alongside our Brother Jesus Christ. What a cast we make!

Whatever the news and regardless our individual and collective failures, you and I have a Church to call our own. Engaging in that reality is what VOTF is all about. Ensuring that we can do more in its interest is what Indianapolis will be all about. Save the date, follow the program development in these pages each month and on our web site, and answer the call. And if you don't "hear" any call, come anyway - maybe you just have to get a little bit closer. God can be like that.

Peggie L. Thorp, ed.
pthorp.ed@votf.org

Calendar Watch - In February 2002, parishioners met at St. John the Evangelist Church, Wellesley, MA to discuss revelations of sexual abuse by clergy. The group would become Voice of the Faithful, the name adopted by consensus on Feb. 25, 2002.

News Watch - Boston, Feb. 7: Paul Shanley, the defrocked Roman Catholic priest, was convicted of raping and assaulting a boy while serving as a parish priest in the 1980s. Click here for VOTF's response and SNAP's web site for their response.

Eyes on Cincinnati, OH: Click here for the story of another priest speaking truth to power. Fr. Tom Bolte reminded his congregation, "We're called by Christ to constantly love, reach out and … work together," said Bolte, "and God will bless us as we do so."

NATIONAL News - Inside this section

THE BISHOPS' WORKBOOK IS OURS, TOO

Kris Ward says, "We have unique knowledge at this time. We are obliged as Catholics to put it to work for the good of the whole Church."

• VOTF worked with the same workbook used by the USCCB as the bishops deliberate proposed revisions to the Charter - see background information, the workbook itself with VOTF's proposed edits, a parish check list for the review of the Charter to Protect Children and Young People; correspondence with review committee chair Bishop Harry Flynn; VOTF vice president Kris Ward led the VOTF Task Force that prepared the workbook for submission to the USCCB - read "The Workbook is Ours, Too"

• Tri-chairs and convention planning committee for the second international VOTF gathering in Indianapolis, IN speak via conference call weekly; see what you can do

• Many readers still miss Paul Baier's weekly e-mails in VOTF's beginnings - you can still hear regularly from Paul via the bishopaccountability.org one-page newsletter "The Monitor"

• VOTF Protecting Our Children Working Group announces The Massachusetts Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Partnership gathering on March 2. See the workshops being offered

• January Representative Council meeting recap; Feb. Council will meet at 10:30 am on Feb. 19 at the Fall River, MA library

• OFFICE NOTES: VOTF is receiving resumes and beginning to interview for the position of VOTF Executive Director; VOTF Office Manager position is open - contact Rick White at 617-558-5252; also, a contact is looking for a forensic accountant - if you can help, please call Rick White at 617-558-5252

• Courtesy of a participant in the Structural Change Network list, here is a link to a survey of the laity being conducted by US Catholic, a magazine published by the Claritians. They plan to publish the results in their April 2005 issue. To have your ideas included, fill out the survey here.

• Priests' Support Working Group encourages readers to study Boston College Gasson Chair Professor Jim Keenan's paper "The Ethical Rights of Priests." Here is the first of a three-part installment. To obtain a full copy, please send your request to pthorp.ed@votf.org

• National Catholic Reporter must-reads; FADICA - what is it and why does it matter? And who said, "Within a sound ecclesiology of communion, a commitment to creating better structures of participation, consultation and shared responsibility… (is) an intrinsic requirement of the exercise of episcopal authority."

REGIONAL News - Inside this section

• Affiliate News: We invited a few of our affiliates to share "birth" dates and VOTF memorable moments, as VOTF begins its fourth year; VOTF Brooklyn/Park Slope gathering received local AND diocesan coverage of their recent meeting; Fr. Donald Cozzens paints a feudal picture at VOTF St. Christopher's in Cleveland, OH

• Events, Etc./Affiliate News East: February through April opportunities remain to hear Professor of Theology, Boston College, MA Jane Regan as well as Merrimack College, Padraic O'Hare speak at the ongoing lecture series "Adult Education and Faith Formation Program: 2004-2005 of Lynn, North Shore and Seacoast Affiliates"

• Boston College's Church in the 21st Century has posted its Spring calendar

BOOK News - Ron DuBois reviews Truth and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code: A Historian Reveals What We Really Know about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Constantine, Bart D. Ehrman, Oxford University Press, 2004

• BOOK Watch - The Pontiff in Winter: Triumph and Conflict in the Reign of John Paul II by John Cornwell and Heirs of the Fisherman: Behind the Scenes of Papal Death and Succession by John-Peter Pham; both are reviewed by James Carroll, author of Constantine's Sword, for "Washington Post Book World" here.

• Watch for upcoming Vineyard review of just-published Good Catholic Girls - How Women Are Leading the Fight To Change the Church by Angela Bonavoglia

• This book remains timely, relevant and thought-provoking: published in 2001 by AltaMira Press: American Catholics - Gender, Generation and Commitment by William V. D'Antonio, James D. Davidson, Dean R. Hoe and Katherine Meyer, four sociologists using three national surveys to examine issues around American Catholicism

PRAYER and REFLECTION -

• Childermas proposal II revised for Lent from Jack Rakosky;
• Paul Kendrick, VOTF Maine, notes the place of tension when calling for great change;
• remembering Bob Castagnola - a tribute from Mary Hogan

COMMENTARY - "Parish Life Without a Resident Priest/Pastor" is an excellent overview of current and future parish life. It is also optimistic! Please read this recap of the VOTF Seacoast, MA affiliate presentation by Sr. Mary Mazza. Comments/questions are welcome - send to pthorp.ed@votf.org

DONATE

JOIN

SIGN UP TO HELP WITH CONVENTION PLANNING -- Contact Bob Morris, rmorrisvotf@aol.com; Ken Sauer, kensauer@sbcglobal.net; Kris Ward, kristineward@hotmail.com). Please indicate in your e-mail the area(s) in which you would like to help.

Write to us! Questions, ideas, comments are welcome at pthorp.ed@votf.org.

THE BISHOPS' WORKBOOK IS OURS, TOO - WHY IT MATTERS TO VOTF

Kris Ward - VOTF Vice President and Chair of VOTF National Task Force on the Charter Revisions

Voice of the Faithful has unique access to our bishops' thoughts at this time. We are obliged as Catholics to put this access to work for the good of the whole Church.

Voice of the Faithful has obtained the working document the bishops of the United States are using to revise the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.

This document, now available on our national website, has the language of the original Charter and the bishops' proposed revisions side by side. What we have cannot be overstated. Note well - the Workbook is not on the bishops' website. It is on the Voice of the Faithful web site. We are the lamplighters.

Voice of the Faithful has taken the Workbook and, like the bishops, made our comments in the spaces provided. We have placed the Workbook with our proposed revisions on our web site.

Any person, any reporter, anyone from the Pope to the person next to you in the pew, can go to our website and read and print the document.

This Workbook for the revision of the Charter has not had wide distribution even among the clergy. Where does that put the rest of us? Clearly, it places Voice of the Faithful in the breach between the Church knowing what the bishops plan to do and the Church not knowing until a revised and weakened Charter might be adopted. At that point, we will be FIVE years away from the next opportunity to get it changed.

Let's remember that the bishops have rested their answer to the crisis on this one instrument - the Charter. When all is said and done, that means that what gets adopted is the Body of Christ's answer, too.

We - unlike the bishops - are offering this knowledge to the world with a simple "come to our website" at www.votf.org.

Open forums on the proposed revisions should be happening. The proposed changes should be published in all diocesan newspapers and on diocesan websites and distributed in every parish bulletin. Voice of the Faithful issues a clarion call to the whole Church to engage in a full and lively debate.

February is a critical time for the Charter. The powerful 55-member administrative committee of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops meets in March. This committee sets the agenda for the June 2005 bishops' meeting where it is expected the proposed revisions will be adopted.

We have to let the world know that we are holding the proposed revisions - and make them aware of how potent this information is. With this abundance, we become the light bearers and with that privilege comes responsibility, accountability and unique opportunity to model a new path for collaboration in the Church.

I, along with the other members of the national Task Force on Charter Review, Thomas Myles of New York, Patricia Gomez of Massachusetts and James Jenkins of California, earnestly ask you to take up this responsibility with zest.

Now is the time to raise our voices - voices that have become educated in these trinity of years of scandal, voices compassionate to the survivors, voices demanding justice, voices seeking protection for children, voices attentive to the Holy Spirit, voices that will not be stilled even as the bishops seek to declare the scandal HISTORY.

VOTF president Jim Post made the following observations in a recent leadership communication

• Self audits by each diocese under the control of each bishop; VOTF urged that audits be conducted by independent third party auditors
• A "softening" of the language of the Charter provisions
• Afive-year wait until the next revision (we propose a three year waiting period)
• The removal of all references to Our Lord in the revised Preamble

The VOTF Task Force recommended:

• Strengthening of the language of the Charter, particularly in its reference to the reporting of crimes
• A major education campaign for the Charter
• The inclusion of the survivor community as consultors
• The inclusion of two members of communities of religious women as consultors

The Task Force commended the Ad Hoc Committee:

• On the inclusion of a proposal to notify religious authorities in any place where a priest against whom there has been credible allegations retires; however, Voice of the Faithful disagreed with the recommendation that the notification should be confidential
• On the broadening of the definition of sexual abuse
• On the proposed inclusion of consultation with the laity
  
  

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VOTF WORKING GROUP NEWS

Survivor Community Update on the Truth and Recognition Coalition submitted by Steve Sheehan

On July 20, 2004, a group of Survivors and supporters met at Mary Scanlon's house to review and discuss a project to be known as the Truth and Recognition Initiative.

The project concentrates on the experiences of the survivors. They are asked to make a gift to history-tangible evidence of their life-altering experience.

The proposal suggests protocols for establishing a process that describes the historical context in which the Catholic Church reacted inadequately and destructively. The project is not meant to identify individual wrongdoers but to document an overview of the abuse, the cover up and the repeated failed pastoral response of clergy and laity that has occurred over time.

Survivors will be asked to participate at levels of preparation, interviewing, recording and archiving of survivor testimonies.

This process has historical antecedent in the Truth and Reconciliation study in South Africa, where Archbishop Tutu stated in his forward to the Commission's report, "... how inadequate the criminal justice system can be in exposing the full truth of, and establishing clear accountability for what happened in our country. More seriously, we have seen how unsuccessful prosecution led to bitterness and frustration in the community."

The purpose of the project is threefold:

1. To document and archive the nature and extent of harm suffered by victims and survivors of sexually executed relational abuse by Catholic Church personnel.
2. To recommend reparations aimed at the rehabilitation of victim-survivors and their families.
3. To recommend community benefits in the form of symbolic recognition of victim-survivor pain and courage, and educational initiatives.

Our solemn obligation is to honor victim-survivors dignity by acknowledging the truth publicly. Although it is impossible to undo the crimes against them, we must try to acknowledge the harm that has been done and accord victim-survivors the respect and understanding they deserve. For more information or to request participation in the Coalition, please contact one of the following:

Mary Scanlon at buzzbayx@comcast.net
Marge Bean at MargeBean@cs.com
Steve Sheehan at sheehan1777@aol.com

Priests' Support Working Group

Part 1: "The Ethical Rights of Priests" by James Keenan, Gasson Chair Professor at Boston College and Professor of Moral Theology at Weston Jesuit School of Theology [Parts 2 and 3 will appear in this space in the March and April issues, respectively, of In the Vineyard]

Lately priests have been writing and signing a variety of statements.

On December 9, 2002, fifty-eight Boston priests signed a letter calling for the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law. In a letter of October 1, 2003, priests of Rockville Centre called for a meeting with Bishop William Murphy over "widespread dissatisfaction" with his leadership. The priests of Chicago wrote an open letter to the hierarchy about the tone and content of Church leaders' remarks about gay and lesbian persons, a letter subsequently adopted by priests from Rochester, New York, and Boston. Then there was the letter of last August signed by over 160 priests in Milwaukee calling for a married clergy.

Amazing actions inasmuch as many cannot remember during the 1980s or 1990s any other letters written by priests. But, do priests have a right to do this? Before answering this question, I want to express on the one hand how novel this question is and on the other, why it is so important.

How Novel?

Strange as it may seem, clergy and bishops rarely receive any professional training from moral theologians. Those who study at seminaries, divinity schools, or schools of theology, do not have the type of ethical training that those at other professional schools receive. Students at business, medical, or law schools take ethics courses that address the ethical issues relevant to their particular profession. They are taught the responsibilities and rights specific to their profession: matters of representation, confidentiality, whistle-blowing, client expectations, privileges, promotions, evaluations, conflicts of interest, professional boundaries, etc.

This type of ethical training is generally not found at most seminaries, divinity schools or schools of theology, even though students take two, three or four courses of Christian ethics. Divinity students and seminarians generally do not study the ethical demands, responsibilities, rights, obligations and privileges specific to their vocation; rather, they study the ethical norms about the laity's sexual relations and reproductive issues, the social ethics of governments and businesses, and the medical ethics of physicians and nurses. They are taught how to govern and make ethically accountable the members of our congregations; generally speaking they are not taught by what ethical reasoning, insights, or norms they should govern themselves. A priest knows much more about birth control than about the right treatment of employees.

This same alienation is found in canon law courses. When seminarians study canon law, they learn more about whether a married couple can get an annulment than the rights and responsibilities incumbent on their own state in life. Ask a priest what he should do if his vicar says to him, "An accusation has been filed against you; I deem it credible; you have two hours to leave the rectory." Few would know what rights belong to him; but tell him that you want to marry a person who while belonging to another Christian denomination married a person in a non-Christian wedding but subsequently entered that denomination and then they both sought the blessing of a minister (of yet another denomination) and he will be able to explain to you why your fiancé needs to file for an annulment. We learn a lot about how to govern others; but not about what pertains to ourselves.

[Part 2 - "Are Ethical Rights Important?" and "The Right of Association" will appear in the March issue of In the Vineyard]

NATIONAL NEWS

• Update/press release on VOTF response to USCCB proposed Charter and Norms revisions; bishops' workbook/VOTF proposed revisions; correspondence with Abp. Harry Flynn. Read it all at LINK

• Indianapolis convention update: We are SO on our way!!!! Ann Carroll (MA) has been steering the convention research and committee assembly.

  • The convention committee speaks weekly via conference call and are now building the various committees needed to make this convention a new day for VOTF AND our Church. The Convention Committee tri-chairs are VOTF vice-president Kris Ward (OH), Ken Sauer (IN), and Bob Morris (MA). Members are:
    Bill Casey - Northern VA
    Sr. Betsy Conway - Boston, MA
    Ed Gleason - San Francisco, CA
    Mary Heins - Indianapolis, IN
    Evelyn Mercantini - Northern VA
    Bob Morris - Boston, MA (chair)
    Sheila Peiffer - Albany, NY
    Gaile Pohlhaus - Philadelphia, PA
    Ken Sauer - Indianapolis, IN (chair)
    Peggie Thorp - Boston, MA
    Kris Ward - Dayton, OH (chair)

  • Suzanne Morse in Communications and Rick White, VOTF interim Executive Director, as well as the entire National office will also be "in and out" of committee deliberations as their respective skills are needed.

  • Sheila Peiffer submits the following Convention Alert: VOTF Affiliates, working groups and committees are encouraged to participate in the 2005 VOTF Convention by sharing "best practices" or any effective strategies or programs used in their respective groups. These would make an excellent working session at the convention. Please submit proposals to "Program Committee" c/o Gaile Pohlhaus at Gaile.pohlhaus@villanova.edu by March 1st.

  • Volunteers to help out in any way with the convention planning are more than welcome! Just send an e-mail to one of the convention co-chairs: Bob Morris, rmorrisvotf@aol.com; Ken Sauer, kensauer@sbcglobal.net; Kris Ward, kristineward@hotmail.com). Please indicate in your e-mail the area(s) in which you would like to help.

• Parish Voice - Mary Pat Fox, Mary Ann Keyes and Suzy Nauman from the MA NY Hands MA NY Hearts leadership development team presented to a group from the Archdiocese of NY, as well as a few members from the dioceses of Brooklyn and Bridgeport, CT on Saturday, January 22nd at St. Ignatius of Loyola in NYC. The leadership training, with spiritual grounding at its core, focused on the selection of a problem and an issue for action. The impending blizzard added to the excitement of the day, and we are grateful to all of the participants who showed up. It was an excellent adventure for Suzy and Mary Ann who traveled by train back to Boston as the snows fell and the wind blew! The following week, on Saturday, January 29th, at St. John the Evangelist in Wellesley, the MA NY Hands team offered organizing and leadership training to those who had signed up at the New England conference in November. There were members from NH, ME, the diocese of Springfield, MA as well as many from the Boston area. Members of the VOTF office staff, heads of national working groups and Gaile Pohlhaus, our new national secretary, attended as well. The team consisted of Ben D'Aprile, Mary Pat Fox, Mary Ann Keyes, Donna Manganaro and Suzy Nauman. We are happy to report that the only winds blowing that day were those of the Spirit. We were pleased with the enthusiasm and participation in both trainings. Both groups left with a sense of purpose and tools in hand aimed at bringing new energy and focus to the affiliates.

• Media alert: John Allen's column "Word from Rome" in the 1/28/05 issue of National Catholic Reporter is worth reading on the subject of the Charter and Norms, particularly with regard to the impending expiration (after two years, as originally stated) of the Charter for the Protection of Children and the "mixed commission" of Vatican officials and American bishops meeting in Rome through Feb. 1 to discuss the Norms put in place by the USCCB to protect children - watch Allen's column for coverage of that meeting's outcome. Also:

  • Read "Parishioners defy archbishop" by Geri Dreiling in the current NCR - here's the story of entire parish voting against the transfer of money and property to the St. Louis archdiocese, in defiance of the Archbishop Raymond Burke. Click Here

  • Financial responsibility is also the focus of the annual survey of Catholic donor attitudes sponsored by (remember this - you will hear about this group again) FADICA* - Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities. Good coverage provided by NCR's Dennis Coday. Go to NCR. A copy of the Catholic Donor Attitude Survey is available here or you can download it by clicking here.

  • FADICA (Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities, Inc.) is a consortium of private charitable foundations and individual donors who share an interest in religious philanthropy. The organization was formed in 1976 and functions primarily as a learning and leadership forum for its members. FADICA enables its members to track trends and research of significance to faith-based philanthropy, to interact with religious leaders, to help solve problems, and to mentor the next generation of foundation trustees.

*****Bishopaccountability.org publishes a regular update - "The Monitor" - sent out by our one-and-only Paul Baier. It is a concise, well-written update. Check it out at bishopaccountability.org or write to staff@bishop-accountability.org or call 781-910-5467.

****The much beleaguered head of the controversial Legionaries of Christ Fr. Marcial Maciel is stepping down. John Allen, Jr. comments in www.ncronline.org (go to "The Word from Rome") in his 1/28/05 column on this subject and his 2/7/05 follow-up. The latter covers the potential impact of Maciel stepping down on the Vatican investigation of sex abuse charges against him. c

**** From VOTF Protecting Our Children - The Massachusetts Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Partnership is now accepting registrations for our March 2nd conference, "Taking Action to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse: Strategies for Your Community." To register on-line, please go to and distribute this information far and wide - we anticipate a great turnout and lots of dialogue. Questions and comments can be directed to alma@masskids.org. The deadline for registration is Feb. 18. Workshops titles:

The Enough Abuse Campaign: Organizing a Movement to End Child Sexual Abuse
Child Sexual Abuse: Prevention Strategies for Your Family & Community
Talking to Kids about Sexuality: Communication Strategies for Parents
The Prevention of Sexually Abusive Behaviors in Childhood & Adolescence
Sex Offender Management, Victim Advocacy & Prevention: Collaborations for Change
Preventing Child Sexual Abuse within Organizations
Deflecting Deception
Race, Prevention & Child Sexual Abuse
So Sexy, So Soon: The Sexualization of Childhood & What We Can Do About It
Speaking About the Unthinkable: The Use of Metaphor for Talking about Child Sexual Abuse
Using Poetry & Art to Explore Barriers to Prevention
When There Is No Evidence To Report: An Opportunity for Prevention

*****January 2005 National Representative Council highlights:

• VOTF V-P Kris Ward reported on the work of the VOTF national Task Force working on the Bishops' Charter Review. The deadline for comment on proposed Charter revision being 1/15, the Task Force submitted VOTF comments on 1/14 to Bishop Harry Flynn of the USCCB subcommittee on sexual abuse. [Subsequently, Bishop Flynn acknowledged receipt of VOTF edits and VOTF issued a press release on 1/31 LINK]

• Ron DuBois, Council Steering Committee rep. offered a brief explanation of the proposal being presented by the Representative Council Steering Committee for restructuring of the Council, asking that evaluation of the proposal be done in terms of the fundamental values of VOTF based on the vision of the Church as we want it to be, incorporating values of transparency and representation. The Steering Committee supports elected regional representatives with voting privileges.

• John Ryan, chair of the revitalized VOTF Governance Committee, in presenting the restructuring proposal of his committee, said he realizes the need to create an infrastructure relating to individual dioceses, to speak as one voice to its Bishop. While Ryan noted areas of convergence between the Steering and Governance committees, he said the consensus favored a flexible regional approach to representation, which might be addressed by a created implementation team. Ryan passed out the GC alternate proposal before the meeting. The Governance Committee supports voting privileges for the VOTF president and vice president.

• The question of allowing two officers to vote on the Representative Council was discussed on the Council listserve by Council membership and came to an electronic vote on Feb. 5. Additional discussion on the full Steering Committee recommendation is under way.

• Margaret Roylance presented a status report on the Structural Change Working Group. "We need to make a splash - create new initiatives," said Roylance. She mentioned study of new ministry models, the role of the faithful in pastoral selection, and rights of the faithful under Canon Law. She noted that structural change productions like the Church structure "Primer" have not been distributed to full effect yet. The second edition will be on the website in March, 2005.

  • Roylance suggested the need to increase visibility of Parish Safety Committee information and the Survey of Parish Councils in VOTF national. She said previous projects should be "rolled out." Roylance distributed a resolution to be presented at the next Council meeting in response to September's Holy See statement concerning collaborative governance.

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  AFFILIATE NEWS

VOTF CENTRAL

VOTF Indianapolis, IN
Submitted by Mary Heins

Local grants: Thanks to the work of Jay Carrigan, VOTF Indianapolis received a grant this January of $1000 from the Church Federation of Greater Indianapolis. This group gives money to local churches that sponsor special programs designed to benefit the people in a particular parish or church. The pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas parish Fr. Bill Munshower wrote a letter stating that VOTF Indianapolis hosted speakers or programs beneficial to the parish. This money helped us bring David Clohessy, SNAP, (Kris Ward and Ann Carroll were here as well, with David) in October, and Leonard Swidler, ARCC, November, 2004.

Our next speakers' event will feature representatives from 4 traditions to speak on their manner of church governance and how well it functions.

The steering committee/officers (Ken Sauer, Mary Heins, and Millie Brady) and some members are looking forward to meeting with Indianapolis deanery priests on March 2 to acquaint them with VOTF's goals, encourage them to tell parishioners about Voice of the Faithful, tell them about the convention, and establish friendly relationships. Again, this is being done through consultation with Fr. Bill Munshower, pastor of St. Thomas parish, who has been supportive of us. [NOTE: Mary Heins is on the convention committee for the Indianapolis July 9/10 VOTF convention. Ken Sauer, also from Indianapolis VOTF, is one of three convention chairs alongside VOTF vice president Kris Ward (OH) and Bob Morris (MA)]

VOTF St. Christopher's Cleveland, OH
Submitted by Fred McGunagle

Well before the starting time, people occupied all 100 chairs. By the time Father Donald Cozzens began to speak, another 70 were standing in the back. Attendees were not disappointed.

"It's our responsibility," Cozzens said, "to be adult Catholics, because we love the church and we're trying to live by the gospel; we honor our consciences and we know how to think. The church means too much to us and to those who are going to come after us for us to keep silent."

Referring to the Latin word adsum - "I am here" - with which priests used to respond at their ordination, he said: "The laity and the clergy, need to say together, 'Adsum. We are here. We love the church, but we're going to insist on adult dialogue.'"

Cozzens spoke at the Jan. 27 meeting of the St. Christopher (Cleveland) Parish Voice. His subject was Faith That Dares to Speak, the title of his latest book. He paid tribute to the work of VOTF in insisting on accountability and transparency, but warned that it and similar groups face an obstacle.

"The Catholic Church, I have been arguing, in terms of its structure, is the last feudal structure in the West. We can understand the bishop of Rome, the Pope, as a sovereign - as some would say, an absolute monarch. The Pope appoints a bishop to a diocese in very much the same way that a king would appoint someone to a benefice a few centuries ago. And then the bishop - the vassal to the Pope - subdivides the diocese into parishes, and he appoints priests as pastors and the pastors become vassals to the bishop.

"In a feudal structure, there isn't a regard for free flow of information. The serfs are expected to trust their vassal and the lord of the manor is expected to trust the king. When it comes to listening to the serfs, it's almost unimaginable."

The feudal system has served the church well for 1,000 years, Cozzens said. However, "A feudal system works well when the serfs are uneducated. Today, we priests are often preaching to an assembly on Sunday who know as much, if not more, theology and sacred scripture than we do."

Cozzens is a former Cleveland Diocese vicar of clergy and president-rector of St. Mary Seminary. He is now writer in residence at John Carroll. Tonight he was revisiting his first parish.

He told the audience: "Being a Catholic in 1965 when I was assigned to St. Christopher Parish could be pretty much summed up this way: 'Believe. Behave. Be saved.' It was that simple: If you believe the church's doctrine and moral teachings and follow the church's moral and ethical pronouncements, you can face death with a sure and certain hope of salvation."

"No doubt about it, faithful living and right living are fundamental to being a disciple of Jesus the Christ. But what really is at the heart of right living? We embrace the gospel, we embrace the teachings of our church, but we have also heard from the Great Council that we need to understand the richness of the gospel in history. And the Spirit continues to lead us deeper into understanding what gospel fidelity is all about."

Cozzens continued, "Once people are educated, they simply want a compelling explanation for what it is that the church is teaching. The problem we are faced with today is not theological, it is structural. Did Vatican II really mean what it said - that all of us are full, equal adult members of the church? For a long time you and I have been programmed to 'Believe, behave and be saved.'"

It was that culture, that "climate of secrecy," he said, that trapped so many bishops in the clergy abuse scandal - "I'm afraid they were concerned that the church's teaching authority could be weakened if these problems got out. Most of the bishops were caught in a structure that co-opted them. They were part of a structure that operated that way."

He quoted Thomas P. O'Neill Jr., former Massachusetts attorney general, at a Voice of the Faithful panel: "These bishops look at clergy sex abuse as a public relations problem, and they want to get back to the way things were as quickly as possible. They want to get back to normal."

But, Cozzens asked, "What if normal is the problem? What if the structure is the problem?" (Cozzens can be reached at dcozzens@jcu.edu)

VOTF SOUTH

VOTF Palm Beach County, FL
Submitted by Merry O'Donnell

The Palm Beach County Affiliate was born on April 7, 2003, with Merry O'Donnell as its first president. What I recall best about that first meeting was the number of clergy present who wanted to be anonymous - there were two Armed Forces chaplains and a couple of women religious. Meanwhile, a Jesuit friend in PA congratulated us for our efforts with VOTF because, he said, we as laity can do things that the clergy cannot do. Let's never forget our responsibility.

VOTF SW Florida
Submitted by Peg Clark

Our beginnings: What was soon to become the Naples, FL affiliate of VOTF was founded by Peg Clark originally as an Ad Hoc Group of Catholic, all of whom felt "I have to do something, and I must do it now." The group formed in late January of 2002 immediately after the breaking news of the sex abuse of clergy in Boston.

We learned of the work of VOTF soon after, and realized that VOTF 's goals and mission were in perfect sync with what we were trying to organize on our own. We affiliated with national VOTF in September of 2002 and took the name Voice of the Faithful of Southwest Florida.

We have a roster of nearly 200 names. Many are seasonal residents who join VOTF of SWFL when they are in residence during the winter. Our seasonal guests are most welcome; in fact, they form the backbone of our affiliate.

In the past two years, two additional VOTF affiliates have were formed in our diocese; one in Fort Myers and another in Venice, FL.

Our affiliate is most grateful to VOTF National for the outstanding leadership that has governed the organization. We are proud of our affiliation with all the affiliates in U.S. and globally.

Jim Post, president of VOTF National, will address our general membership on Tuesday, March 29th, 2005. Members and non-members are invited to attend the presentation in the Parish Life Center of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church at 1:00 to 3:00 PM.

The Parish Life Center is located immediately behind the church at 625 111th Avenue North, Naples, FL.

VOTF of SWFL's Speakers Forum will present Fr. Thomas Doyle, J.C.D., as their annual nationally known guest speaker on March 8, 2005 at 7:00 PM in the Ballroom of the Parish Life Center of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church at 625 111th Avenue North, Naples, FL. For more information, please e-mail VOTFofSWFL@aol.com or visit us at our web site.

VOTF Baton Rouge, LA
Submitted by Billie Bourgeois

The Baton Rouge, Louisiana affiliate has adopted the week of June 11 as "Voice Day." We celebrated our first year June 2004 with a Eucharistic celebration in the chapel of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Baton Rouge. We are planning our second anniversary celebration for June, as well as a Healing Eucharist for our diocese during Lent.

We are blessed to welcome new leadership in our affiliate. Our new coordinator is Gerry Stark, who will now facilitate the meetings beginning in February.

VOTF EAST

VOTF Brooklyn, NY
Submitted by Ed and Anne Wilson

Saturday, July 20, 2002 ten of us from downtown Brooklyn attended the VOTF conference in Boston. It proved an exhilarating, life-changing experience. After several weeks of attending meetings at St. Francis Xavier in NYC we decided to form our own affiliate in Brooklyn.

Before we could do so, on Friday October 25, 2002 at 5 pm by fax to each parish, Bishop Thomas V. Daily banned VOTF from any use of diocesan or parish property on the ground that we were likely to be 'divisive.' On Tuesday, October 29, 2002 we officially formed our affiliate and were invited to meet at St. Francis College by Dr. Frank Macchiarola, president.

On Monday January 6, 2003, we held a well-publicized vigil outside St. James Cathedral, dramatizing the gifts we offer to the church that were being refused by the bishop.

In late January, 2003, Brooklyn VOTF was invited to, and did, enter into dialogue with a diocesan panel leading to a lifting of the ban on April 29. Dialogue has continued with various diocesan officials.

Also, in March of 2003 a group of VOTF people from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut met at a SurvivorsFirst conference in Greenwich, CT. This led to the formation of the Tri-State regional group from the diocese of Bridgeport, CT, the archdiocese of NY, the dioceses of Brooklyn and Rockville Center, NY, and four dioceses in northern NJ, including the archdiocese of Newark and the dioceses of Patterson, Metuchen and Trenton, NJ. This regional grouping has been meeting regularly ever since. It conducted a major conference at Fordham University on October 25, 2003 and a forum regarding the Dallas norms (and the audits called for) at St. Paul's Church on May 22, 2004. We continue to meet and discuss our diverse problems and diverse bishops vis a vis our three VOTF goals.

CURRENT: On January 18, at St. Francis College, Brooklyn Hts., NY, our affiliate met to discuss the Brooklyn Diocese Review Board that investigates allegations of sexual abuse. Among our speakers were Pamela Hayes, former Assistant DA, and Chief of Brooklyn Sex Crimes Unit. Hayes served on the US Bishops' Review Board from its inception in 2002 through 11/2004. We also heard from Professor Bernard Helldorfer who heads the Brooklyn Diocesan Review Board. He is Professor and Director of the Legal Studies Program, Div. of Criminal Justice and Legal Studies at St. John's University, Queens, NY.

Hayes' powerful talk rested on a clear conviction - "This is our church and we are needed to change it. Without us there will not be change." Helldorfer said that thus far, the Review Board found 15 of 18 allegations credible, and in each case, the diocese followed the Board's recommendations.

During the Q & A time, it was noted that a phone number had been distributed to parishioners for reporting allegations of sexual abuse. Greg Valvo, co-director of SNAP, asked if the people receiving calls were sexual abuse victims or professional counselors. Helldorfer acknowledged that the person receiving the calls is an attorney. While the Board did recommend that a trained professional take these calls, the diocese did not comply.

Both the Brooklyn Heights Courier and the Brooklyn diocesan newspaper The Tablet provided exceptionally good coverage of the evening.

(Photo credits Phil Gilson)

VOTF Natick, MA
Submitted by Donna Manganaro

The Natick Parish Voice members started meeting in private homes in March of 2002. We met every few weeks until we officially joined VOTF July of 2002.

We are currently planning an anniversary celebration that will include a panel discussion between priests and laity on Monday March 14 at the Natick Library. The invitations to priests, including the Natick pastors who will not allow VOTF to meet on Church property, will go out shortly. (We just like them to know we're still here!) Our group is hoping to welcome two or three priests and many attendees.

What I value most about VOTF goes back to our early meetings when we'd come and see people from our parish that we'd never seen before - every one of them with clear bright eyes that had the Spirit looking back at you. Then came the sharing of stories that personified the Presence. We at VOTF are a kindred spirit and these great moments have been repeated for me hundreds of times over the past three years.

VOTF Weymouth, MA
Submitted by Sharon Harrington

Our group sponsored a presentation by Fr. Joseph Towle, MM, who spoke of his 30 years of experiences as a Maryknoll Missionary, including service to Central and South American Catholics. Members and guests found his talk on "Lay Led Parishes" and Base Christian Communities empowering and enlightening. On February 8th, we will welcome local survivor Jeanne Cratty, who will share ways that we can support survivors more effectively. All meetings are in St. Albert the Great Parish Hall.

St. Albert the Great/Weymouth, MA VOTF first met July 10, 2002 in our church hall, as an outgrowth of Hingham, MA's VOTF. I feel that the best moments in VOTF have been those spent in the support given to parishioners who want to become more informed and active in their faith by supporting justice for survivors, by supporting priests who are faithful to their consciences rather than their careers, and by helping to change the Church to include the wisdom of laypeople.

VOTF Seacoast, MA
Submitted by Mo Donovan

The VOTF Affiliates of North Shore, Lynn and Seacoast(MA) for the last two years have been collaborating with Boston College Dept. of Theology in a program of Faith Formation. Six times a year, twice hosted by each affiliate, theologians from BC address certain issues. Attendees number an average of 80 for each session.

Remaining in the second annual "Adult Education and Faith Formation Program: 2004-2005 of Lynn, North Shore and Seacoast Affiliates," which began in September, are the following opportunities:

February 13: 2005 (Topsfield; St. Rose of Lima Parish Hall): Faith Formation: Fostering Adult Faith in Conversation. Jane Regan, Ph.D. (Boston College, Department of Theology).

February 20: 2005 (Topsfield, St. Rose of Lima Parish Hall): The Parish as Learning Community. Jane Regan, Ph.D. (Boston College, Department of Theology).

April 3: 2005 (Lynn; St. Pius V, Lower Church Hall): We Believe in One God: Jews, Christians, Muslims as Brothers and Sister in Faith: Our Common Heritages and Differences. Padraic O'Hare, Ph.D. (Merrimack College).

April 10: 2005 (Lynn; St. Mary's Parish, Cardinal Cushing Center): Christian Ecumenical Dialogue: Progress Since Vatican II In Creating Closer Ties Between the Christian Denominations. Padraic O'Hare, Ph.D. (Merrimack College).

For further information, please email Jim Callahan at jcall2@comcast.net; Vince Guerra at vfgmd@aol.com; Mary Fitzsimmons at mpfitzsimmons@comcast.net; or Jack Whelan at whelanj@lynnschools.org).

VOTF Lynn, MA
Submitted by Jack Whelan

The Lynn Area Affiliate began to meet in early April of 2002, when several parishioners from St. Pius V began to meet with Sr. Lorraine and talk about what was going on in Wellesley and why. It was just a small group, but we were very concerned about our Church. We soon found that many other people were thinking as we were thinking. By mid May, we needed to move our meetings over to the lower church, because more people wanted to attend.

I don't think that I can tell you about any one point in VOTF that I would call the best. I think there has been more growth than we might notice: parishioners taking responsibility for some of the things in our parish that we would not be doing a few short years ago; liturgies that we are writing; establishing a parish safety committee and reviewing all of our facilities; struggling with our parish council and the relationships that we all share with clergy, religious and laity and, above all, celebrating in prayer who we are. These are the "high points" I think of when I think of VOTF.

Recently, we began interviewing each and every priest and parish council in the area to build a platform where we can all speak openly and honestly - about their understanding of VOTF and ours. Our outreach includes Bishop Erwin.

Our affiliate represents a number of parishes with a wide variety of opinions, both among the clergy and the laity as to what VOTF really stands for. The third goal, structural change, is the most frightening to both groups, because implicit in the definition of change is a shift in power, and in responsibility. Even those priests who have shown us nothing but support in our three years of existence are worried about the shift that this kind of change could mean. The leadership in our various parishes comes from really good people who are struggling with the concept of change in our Church. Our greatest tool remains that of education.

To me, this is the truly remarkable gift that VOTF has delivered. In three short years, a large group of the laity has been able to form a vision and begin the process of making that vision into a reality.

VOTF Winchester Area, MA
Submitted by Bob Morris

The highlight for our group this month was a talk on January 10 by Deacon Joe Ramrath of St. Anselm's Parish in Sudbury. The parishioners at St. Anselm's have been conducting a round-the-clock vigil at St. Anselm's since its official "closing" by the Archdiocese of Boston in September 2004. Deacon Joe described for our group the history of the parish, the tortured path to the decision issued in May 2004 to close the parish, and the courageous stance taken by the parishioners since that time. Our group is proud to support St. Anselm's and all the other parishes in vigil in the Archdiocese.

In addition, on January 3, our small-group faith sharing series continued. This series of monthly gatherings is fast becoming a popular supplement to our weekly meetings.

BEGINNINGS: Our first meeting was on Monday, May 13, 2002. While we have been fortunate to have a number of distinguished guest speakers (John Allen, Kathleen McChesney, Fr. Donald Cozzens, to name but a few), the most powerful experience for this writer has been how this disparate group of persons from different parishes has come together as a community, week after week since 2002, committed to VOTF's three goals, and to strengthening and renewing the Church.

Joe Ramrath/photo credit Nelson Bolen

VOTF Montgomery County, MD
Submitted by Judy Miller

Our first exploratory meeting was held on October 17, 2002 and our first meeting after our decision to become an official affiliate was held on December 12, 2002.

• Our best moments: Collaborating with SNAP (beginning in May, 2004) to facilitate a monthly support group for survivors at the Gaithersburg, MD library and hearing from a survivor that they had been praying for help to come to Montgomery County and our group was an answer to that prayer.

• Joining with other affiliates in the area and pulling off our very successful symposium "Are the Wounds Healing?" on November 14, 2004, despite the many obstacles that were placed in our way. Maybe it said, "Look at us. We're here to stay!"

VOTF Metuchen, NJ
Submitted by Kevin Gilmartin

Our first meeting was Thursday, April 29, 2004. It was an exploratory meeting to determine if there was an interest. There was. We have over 50 active participants from St. Matthias parish and other parishes across the Metuchen diocese. We have established a Speakers Forum to help us grow in our knowledge of our Church and its history. We are doing our best to continue our growth in numbers.

EVENTS, ETC./ East Region

****from Dan Dick, Worcester, MA - a reminder to check the College of the Holy Cross Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture, Worcester, MA 508-793-3869 for a wide range of lectures and workshops open to the public. Saturday, April 2, 2005, Alice Hayes, former President of the University of San Diego and former National Review Board member will present"Reflections on the Abuse Crisis: How Can the Laity Be Part of the Solution?" 10 a.m., Rehm Library. Click here for more information.

****Boston College's Church in the 21st Century will host "The Second Annual Conference on Understanding the Clergy Sexual Abuse Crisis" for mental health professionals, parish administrative staff and religious education directors on Fr. March 11, 2005. Call 617-552-4038 or contact lynchv@bc.edu

• Some of the Spring lineup in this program: April 6, "Race and American Catholicism"; May 5, "The Loss of Effective Authority: A Crisis in Trust and Credibility"(sponsored by the Lonergan Workshop, call 617-552-8095); June 15-18, "The Roman Catholic Priesthood in the 21st Century." Call 617-552-0470 or go to www.bc.edu/church21

**** PRIEST + SURVIVOR + WHISTLE BLOWER = CANNED!!!
Thursday, February 17, 7:00-9:00 pm, Philbin Hall, St. John's School, Wellesley

VOTF West Suburban Affiliate General Meeting at St. John the Evangelist Church, Wellesley, MA looks forward to our guest speaker Father Robert M. Hoatson who will share his thoughts and experiences of today's Church as a former Irish Christian Brother and now a Catholic priest. He has testified before the NY State Legislature about the horrors of clergy sexual abuse. He is co-founder with Father Doyle of the Millstone Project - a national effort addressing accountability in the Catholic Church. Fr. Hoatson is himself a survivor of sexual abuse while a member of the Irish Christian Brothers.

All Are Welcome! For information contact Julie McConville at jfmcconville@comcast.net or call the VOTF office: 617-558-5252

VOTF WEST

VOTF East Bay, CA
Submitted by Peter Davey

VOTF East Bay, California, was born on February 10th, 2003, at St. Augustine's, Pleasanton. Two of our "Best Moments" remain the Priests' Panel held in June 2004 and Tom Doyle's presentation on Oct 13, 2004.

Other memorable moments come to mind. In June 2003, Sally Vance Trembath, theologian from University of San Francisco, conducted a workshop on documents of Vatican II. In March of 2004, VOTF Northern California, was part of a weekend gathering sponsored by University of San Francisco entitled " Imaging the Future Church." Jim Post was among the guest speakers along with Robert Blair Kaiser; M. Shawn Copeland; Fr. Donald Cozzens; Leonard Swidler; Sally Vance Trembath; and Mary Ann Hinsdale, IHM.

VOTF On the Road - Mark and Kathy Mullaney recalled the following when traveling "overseas and down under."

We remember when we were just north of Sydney, Australia in July of 2003 giving a VOTF presentation to some of the congregation in a church we visited. Kathy and I were asked about a comparison of the church abuse in USA and Australia. I mentioned that I was struck by the similarity of the response in both countries, almost as if it were being directed by the Vatican! Although I said it, it was no less a revelation to me than to these parishioners among whom there were a number of academics and theologians. All agreed. In VOTF, we often speak of ourselves as "Spirit-driven" - this moment in Australia was a powerful testament to that Presence.

REFLECTION

Remembering Martin Luther King on the national holiday that remembers his life, Paul Kendrick of VOTF Maine shared the following:

Excerpt - "You may well ask: 'Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path?' You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community, which has constantly refused to negotiate, is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent-resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word 'tension.'

I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension, which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, we must see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood." Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963

Maintaining A Watch On Episcopal Accountability in the Catholic Church

"The panel warned last March that 'there must be consequences' for bishops who led the years of cover-up." New York Times Editorial, December 16, 2004

"Until the cover up, too, is explored and acted upon, the bishops - in every effort to right past wrongs, including the way they track their corrective procedures - will be working under a cloud." Arizona Daily Star Editorial, December 15, 2004

"The church leadership has demonstrated by its behavior over several decades that it cannot be trusted to put the interests of parishioners ahead of pedophile priests, which is why the state has been placed in this custodial relationship to begin with. The church's current attempt to neutralize the state's authority by rendering the audit useless is consistent with the arrogance displayed throughout the years of abuse and deceit." Nashua Telegraph, January 15, 2005

"...no bishop or other hierarch who, knowing of the sexual abuse of minors by any priest, has failed to remove the priest from any exposure to minors or to take any other effective step to protect the people of God, or who has concealed the risk of abuse presented by such priests from the people to whom such priest was assigned to minister, should be permitted to hold any position of ecclesiastical leadership in the Church." VOTF Episcopal Accountability Resolution, September 18, 2004

Jack Rakosky continues the Childermas Lessons begun in January's In the Vineyard. What follows is an adaptation of the Third Lesson section of the Service of Nine Lessons for Childermas.

A BRIEF LENTEN SERVICE OF LAMENTATION FOR CHILDREN
by Jack Rakosky

READING FROM THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW (2:7-21).
God saves the child Jesus from the slaughter ordered by Herod.

As Raymond Brown points out in The Death of the Messiah (Volume II, page 1301-1303) Matthew has a parallel ABABA literary structure in both his birth account (Matthew 1:1 -2:23) and the burial account (Matthew 27:57 -28:20). The attempts of Herod to thwart the birth of the Messiah are paralleled by the attempts of the chief priests and the guards to thwart the resurrection of the Messiah.

LAMENTATION FOR THE DEATH OF INNOCENCE
A Paraphrase of Jeremiah and the Book of Lamentations

Building upon Brown's insight, this composition views the suffering and death of the innocent children in the context of the suffering and death of the innocent Jesus by paraphrasing the weeping over them by Rachel from the book of Jeremiah (referenced in Matthew) and the weeping of the Daughters of Jerusalem in Book of Lamentations (as referenced by Luke).

Response (Paraphrase of Jeremiah 9:1, 17, 18) Oh, that my mind would become a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I could weep day and night for the children of my people. Call for the wailing women to come; send for the most skillful mourners! Let them wail on behalf of us so that our eyes will overflow with tears and water will come down like streams from our eyelids.

Verse (Paraphrase of Lamentations 2: 10-11). The leaders of the Holy Temple sit on the ground in silence; they have anointed their heads with dust and put on sackcloth. The daughters of Jerusalem have bowed their heads in shame. Their eyes are worn out from weeping, their spirits are in torment. Their hearts are poured out on the ground because our children have been destroyed, because children and infants lie despoiled in the streets of our city. Response

Verse (Paraphrase of Lamentations 2: 12-13). The children say to their mothers, "Where are the good things of life?" They are faint like the Wounded Man in the streets of the Holy City. Their lives ebb away in their mothers' arms. Has there ever been such sorrow? To what can I compare your anguish, O Daughter of Jerusalem? How may we comfort you, O Virgin Daughter of Zion? Your wound is as deep as the sea. Who can heal you? Response

Verse (Paraphrase of Lamentations 2: 18-19) The hearts of the people cry out to God. From the Holy Temple tears flow like a river day and night. Give yourself no relief; your eyes no rest. Arise, O People of God, cry out in the night. As each vigil begins, pour out your heart like water in the presence of our God. Lift up your hands in prayer for the lives of your children. Response

Verse (Paraphrase of Jeremiah 9: 19-21) The sound of wailing is heard from the Holy Temple: "Disaster has come upon us! How great is our shame! We must abandon our places. The Temple lies in ruins." Now, O People of God, hear God's word. Open your ears to the words of the prophets. Teach your children the need to wail; teach one another how to lament. Death has climbed in through our windows and has entered our houses and our holy places. It has killed the flower of our youth; it has bound the Wounded Man and led Him away from the public square. Response

PRAYER FOR THE GRACE OF LAMENTATION

Gracious God, give us the gift of tears for the stolen lives of children!
Let us weep for those who have been exploited for the labor of their bodies
Let us weep for those who have been exploited for sexual purposes

Gracious God, give us the gift of tears for the scarred lives of children!
Let us weep for those who have been physically abused
Let us weep for those who have been emotionally abused
Let us weep for those who have been sexually abused

Gracious God, give us the gift of tears for the wounded lives of children!
Let us weep for those who have died early and untimely deaths
Let us weep for those whose lives have been disfigured
Let us weep for those whose childhood has been stolen

Gracious God, give us the gift of tears for the injured lives of children!

Note: this service is an adaptation for Lent of the Third Reading from the author's A Service of Nine Lessons for Childermas. See the January Vineyard for an overview.

Remembering Bob Castagnola

Last month, In the Vineyard filled more than a page with reflections from many friends and acquaintances on the life of Bob Castagnola, an early VOTF MA member who died in January. Mary Hogan's thoughts didn't make the January issue. We are happy to have them in this February issue.

In Memoriam - In Vivo!

How does one capture almost 50 years acquaintance with a unique life force? With the death of Bob Castagnola we have lost a rare blend of conscience, wit and compassion at a time when we most need all three - let alone the loving and lovable person in whom they were housed.

As a novice Registrar at B.C. School of Social Work, I first met Bob and his equally impressive wife-to-be Charlotte Salerno in the Fall of 1956. In an era of conventional approaches to both education and social work Bob didn't hesitate to break the mold. He reserved his (ever-deepening) reverence for God … anything or anyone else was fair game.

Whether it was breaking up a class or calling the School offices in a perfect imitation of then-dominant Cardinal Cushing, Bob was as adept at pricking pomposity as he was at demanding attention for those in greatest need. Embracing the new civil rights efforts after graduation, he'd appear on a picket line at the Boston School Committee, the Cardinal's residence or whatever venue was being called to task - most often at 11 or midnight, just in case the graveyard-shift wasn't being covered.

When he returned to the School as a faculty member, it was with little regard for the "publish or perish" motif then taking hold. He believed - and conveyed brilliantly to students - that as much as they had to establish themselves professionally, the very purpose of the profession was not only to analyze or ameliorate the lot of the poor and marginalized, but to change the assumptions and conditions that contributed to it. His sabbatical was spent at Pine Street Inn - not to study the guests like butterflies on pins, but to listen, to comfort and to learn.

His sense of commitment never weighed heavily on his unselfconscious humility. When he heard (after an orientation "intro" he, of course, walked out on) that I had described him to students as a cross between Francis of Assisi and Mort Sahl, he said, "Boy are you showing your age - half this group doesn't know who St. Francis was and the other half never heard of Mort Sahl."

A devoté of Dante and all things Italian, he would stand in the foyer and declaim what sounded like "Abandonate Spera Tutt…" and we would debate whether the introduction to the Inferno was "Abandon all hope ye who enter…" or "Abandon hope all ye who enter…" Look it up, but know that it was quintessential Bob never to abandon his North End accent, style or integrity. "What you see is what you get" - and it was totally authentic. (On the death of Pope John Paul I, he was quite unnerved at the increasing possibility of a non-Italian Pope and asked to be called ASAP if an election was reported during one of his classes. When I dutifully rang and intoned as somberly as possible "Habemus Papamski," he shouted, "No, No! Now I've gotta' sell my pasta stock and buy kielbasa!" He never quite forgave that break in a 500-year tradition. No pejoratives intended, but no political correctness for its own sake, either.)

The humor lightened but never really hid his anguish at the pain of injustice and indifference suffered by so many of his fellow human beings, whatever their age, status, race or proximity. He fostered dialog and hope on every controversy that threatened to divide people … class, racial or religious prejudice, war and peace, priorities of social justice, AIDS and bias towards gays and lesbians; he offered pro bono seminars on both notions and the reality of G-d, significance of the Spirit to individual lives, various traditions and whatever dilemmas people wanted to discuss. He strove to be a "companion of justice." It was a hope fully realized.

Bob was not so much a contrarian as, literally, a "sign of contradiction" in the tradition of the Jesus he followed so sincerely. If an opinion or course of action was adopted with too much speed or unanimity, he felt obliged to challenge it - and whether at a faculty meeting or a VOTF discussion. It was instinctive with him not only to make sure that all sides/possibilities were considered, but also that neither he nor any of us become so wedded to a position that we could not hear its impact on others or the risks of absolutism that it might imply. Passionate advocacy never justified ad hominem argument or disdain for those on the other side. He was ever open to reflection, correction, new insights and grace.

Those who found him present at MCI Norfolk in a life-deadening or crisis situation; at Pine Street when all respect for human dignity seemed to have disappeared; at Norwood Hospital in the middle of the night, available for whatever listening or consolation an emergency case or family might need; in hospice visits; in everyday contacts with students, colleagues, clients, friends or family when some wall or doubt seemed insurmountable, will never forget him - or keep from smiling at the memory of some irreverent jibe or reassurance.

When we were lost in our own thoughts, preparing to leave for the funeral, Kit Maillett said, "For all the sadness of Bob's death, weren't we blessed to have known him!" Amen.

February Book Review

Truth and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code: A Historian Reveals What We Really Know about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Constantine, Bart D. Ehrman, Oxford University Press, 2004.

Reviewer: Ron DuBois, VOTF Paulist Center, Boston, MA

Those of you who read The Da Vinci Code may have had some wonderment about Leigh Teabing's description to Sophie Neveu about the Gospels, the role of Constantine in determining the Canon of Scripture, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the divinity of Jesus, His relation to Mary Magdalene, and many other issues. For answers, I heartily recommend this short, easy-read book, which explores these and many other claims made in The Da Vinci Code. Bart D. Ehrman is a scripture scholar and the head of the Department of Religion at the University of North Carolina. Earlier in 2004 he published an excellent study of the Gnostics and other early Christian "unorthodox" believers entitled Lost Christianities. His new book on The Da Vinci Code borrows much from Lost Christianities but puts it in a very popular context. It not only answers some of the questions about fact and fiction (mostly fiction), but provides a very basic and clear understanding of how critical studies of the Scriptures proceed. Historical scholarship refuses to indulge in imaginative reconstruction of the past. As Ehrman states in his Introduction, "even when Dan Brown strives to present facts (and indicates that he is providing facts accurately), he has played with the 'facts,' so that many of them are, in actual fact, part of his fiction. It is the goal of my discussion to separate the fact from the fiction, the historical realities from the flights of fantasy, for anyone interested in knowing about the historical beginnings of Christianity, especially in the life of Jesus and the writings that make up the New Testament." Ehrman admits to having enjoyed the page-turning novel by Dan Brown, as did many readers. Nevertheless, on the fourth page of his Introduction Ehrman lists ten factual errors in Brown's book, some of them laughable. These, however, become the basis of the quest for the Holy Grail in The Da Vinci Code. Ehrman then goes on to deal with each claim by Leigh Teabing and to separate truth from fiction in each. For those uninitiated in the historical critical approach to the Scriptures, this little book provides one of the most direct and understandable explanations I have seen. Readers would get much from Ehrman's book, even without having read The Da Vinci Code. Nonetheless, I recommend both for sheer enjoyment as well as a little education.

COMMENTARY

VOICE OF THE FAITHFUL, SEACOAST, MA AFFILIATE - "Parish Life Without a Resident Priest/Pastor" - a presentation by Sister Mary Mazza, C.N.D.

Thanks for the following recap by Eleanora Paciulan of Seacoast VOTF, MA

In planning a public meeting related to VOTF Goal # 3, Structural Change, the Seacoast Affiliate of the Voice of the Faithful explored innovative programs and discovered that some dioceses in the United States have already made Church-approved changes in response to the priest shortage. These changes expand the role of other religious and the laity. Pope John Paul II promulgated a revision in Canon Law that included a new canon, Canon 517, which addressed the shortage of priests in several regions of the world. This canon reflects the concepts of team ministry, collaboration, and pastoral service that have roots in the teaching of the Second Vatican Council. Canon 517.2 provides "official permission" to appoint lay Catholics to lead parishes; the local Bishop has the authority to decide whether and when to appoint lay diocesan leaders. This means that the source of the layperson's authority to lead a Catholic parish rests entirely in the Bishop.

The Bishop of Albany and other American bishops have appointed qualified deacons, women religious, and lay people as Parish Life Directors. Those selected must meet education and experience standards and demonstrate personal and professional skills and maturity, as well as a commitment to grow spiritually and demonstrate a well-developed sense of Church. Seacoast Affiliate Co-coordinator Mary Fitzsimmons invited Sister Mary Mazza, Parish Life Director at St. Patrick Parish in Athens, NY, to speak on the topic "Parish Life without a Resident Priest/Pastor" on Monday, January 31, 2005 at Church of the Nativity Hall, Merrimac, MA. Sister Mary's presentation dealt with her responsibilities that include all aspects of pastoral care of a parish except performing the sacraments and lay leadership and life in a parish without a priest-pastor. This presentation had special relevance for members of the five Seacoast parishes affected by the reconfiguration process - they must make a recommendation to the Archdiocese on how they would share two priests.

Sister Mary's dynamic presentation included song, prayer, Scripture reading and storytelling, as well as descriptions of life in a parish without a resident pastor and the Parish Life Director's role, which evoked many questions from the audience. Sister Mary very quickly taught the fifty attendees a song that invited God into our hearts that was followed by a reading on the Beatitudes from Matthew's Gospel. She stressed that Jesus' message is very simple: believers will not be left orphans in any age; therefore we need not be troubled or afraid. We exist as Church to bring about the reign of God. As she described her present position, which she has held since November 2003, Sister Mary demonstrated that she not only had the professional qualifications, but also the intellect and personal characteristics to be successful. Sister is a multi-talented woman with an upbeat, enthusiastic personality and superb interpersonal skills. She is a well-prepared teacher who delivers her presentation with humor, love and a deep and abiding faith.

Sister has been a member of the Congregation of Notre Dame for thirty-nine years and had served in many ministries from Rhode Island to Montana before arriving at St Patrick Parish in Athens, NY. She was sensitive to the needs of her new parishioners who were mourning the sudden death of their beloved pastor of twenty-eight years. Because the parishioners realized that they were faced with either the parish closing or accepting a Parish Life Director, they graciously received Sister Mary. She noted her two greatest challenges: there had been no change in liturgical practices over many years and, at the onset of her ministry, parishioners divided into small, separate groups when they met with her. She met with each group and after much listening, the parishioners acknowledged their interdependency and committed themselves to the community concept, Sister Mary took on the first challenge, liturgical change, during the Lenten season. Choir members, who had formerly only been required to sing "Amazing Grace" before Mass and "How Great Thou Art" at the end, practiced five hours each week to prepare for Holy Week; at the present time about 40-50% of the parishioners are involved as volunteers.

Sister stated that the Bishop of Albany, Bishop Hubbard, is a visionary who does not believe that one priest should be the pastor of three to five parishes. In Athens, two priests share a Sacramental ministry; one of them, a prison chaplain comes to the parish three weekends each month to celebrate Mass, and the second, the Diocesan Advocate for Priests, comes on one weekend. Sister is responsible for planning the liturgy for weekend Masses as well as funerals and weddings; the sacraments of initiation, Baptism and First Eucharist, are celebrated with the community at weekend Mass. Decisions made by the Pastoral Council are by consensus and a Finance Council was recently established; prior to this, parish volunteers with computer and accounting expertise set up a database for the parish census and assisted with parish finance matters. The only paid parish employee is a part-time maintenance worker. Lay people have answered Sister's call for help whenever she has asked, such as roof repair and painting. The Chair of the Maintenance Committee is an engineer and members of the Finance Committee prepared the parish budget. She said these are areas in which she lacks expertise.

There is a cluster of three parishes within a 15-minute drive working cooperatively on Advent, Lent, and Faith Formation initiatives; they are working towards hiring a Religious Education professional who will coordinate their joint efforts.

Sister Mary opened the session for questions: Her responses to some of the many questions asked were as follows:

• Sister does not do communion services during the week, but does lead a prayer service, the Liturgy of the Hours, every Thursday. St. Patrick Parish is the middle parish of the cluster of three and the other two have daily Mass; when a new pastor comes to one of these churches in July, she hopes that there will be a rotation of weekday Masses among the churches.

• There are 250 families registered in her parish, but she thinks there are probably close to 400, indicating there is a need for some evangelization. She described Athens as having two sections, the village where some families have lived since the 1700s, and the town, which includes a lake and is developing more rapidly than the village.

• There is a Discernment process. There has been a Catholic presence in Athens since 1921 and when diocesan personnel met with the parishioners they saw the potential for development. Registered parishioners have great participation.

• When she arrived, the role of liturgical ministers was very limited. There is now ongoing training of future ministry volunteer trainers. She said that she is attempting to do forty years of liturgical renewal in one year, an impossible but necessary task. The parishioners are asking for training.

• While she honors the budget, especially her personal one, she noted that the rectory had not been maintained for twenty-eight years and was in need of a new boiler and other capital improvements. Contingency for unexpected expenses is part of the capital improvement line item. She said that parishioners support much the way New Englanders do - Sunday collection is about $1,600 and this year's Christmas collection was close to $4,000. In general, new people moving in are better off than senior citizens and others who live in the depressed section of the parish.

• There are seventeen Parish Life Directors (PLDs) in the Diocese of Albany, which covers a large geographic area. Although most PLDs serve in rural areas, Sister said she saw no reason that they couldn't work in urban areas. PLDs do administer the sacraments and if someone in the parish is sick, Sister suggests that the priest administer the Sacrament of the Sick before death is imminent. She will journey with those who are mortally ill in their final moments. She stated that we all have gifts to bring about the reign of God.

[For the rest of this report, please email your request to pthorp.ed@votf.org and note Sr. Mary Mazza in your subject line]