Officers’ Forum
Please send your questions to pthorp.ed@votf.org
and please include your name and where you are
from.
This month's question comes from Marianne Grisez:
“My question for the new officers: How can we
interface with national organizations that may
support VOTF so we can gain a wider audience?
After eighteen months in the Sacramento area,
our core group is small. Can we tap into folks
from Pax Christi, Call to Action, Associates of
religious groups, Sojourners, and others?”
RESPONSE FROM VOTF PRESIDENT JIM POST:
This is a question that comes up frequently and
I welcome Marianne’s interest.
Members often wonder about our criteria for collaborating
with other groups and organizations that are seeking
change in the Church. Since our earliest days,
we have wrestled with this question. We have been
guided by two realities of life in the Catholic
Church. First, there are many different groups
of organized Catholics who range across the spectrum
from very traditional to very progressive. Collaboration
with some could mean disaffection from others.
Second, our own membership is diverse, and members
have a wide variety of views on the many issues
that swirl around our Church in 2005.
For these reasons, we have defined, and tried
to adhere to, a few basic principles. First, our
primary focus is on the sexual abuse crisis. This
is an issue on which people of all political views
agree: Our Church has been badly wounded by the
perpetration and cover up of such abuse. In this
respect, we can, and have, worked with a diverse
range of Catholics who want justice for survivors
and safe environments for children and adults
today and into the future.
Second, we are willing to talk with any Catholic,
and any group, about how to ensure this tragedy
is never repeated. Other groups represent a range
of views as to what must be done, but our principle
is that we are not calling for doctrinal changes.
We believe that the human administration of the
Church can be improved – and must be improved
– so all Catholics can say with confidence and
trust that sexual abuse in our Church will never
happen again. Again, this is practical, not doctrinal,
in character.
Third, we have called for structural change that
will enhance the role of the laity in the governance
and guidance of the Church. Why? To heal a wounded
Church in the spirit of Vatican II. How? By using
the talents of every baptized member of our faith
and treating each bishop, priest, and lay woman
and man as equal members of the body of Christ.
These principles have served Voice of the Faithful
well, and I expect they will continue to guide
our activities and relationships with every organization
of Catholics. |
