|
Please
send comments and inquiries to pthorp.ed@votf.org.
“Good
and Gracious God, we realize that the task we undertook
five years ago is far from over and that like the early
band of followers of your Son we often trip and stumble
in our efforts to help. Open our ears and hearts to
your Spirit and to the voices of survivors. We abandoned
them in the past by not seeing what was happening to
them and not being responsible for the actions of the
Church. Guide us now so that we act with respect and
not condescension, reality and not pretentious piety.
Keep us strong in our love for you that we may continue
the work to which you have called us. We ask this in
the name of Jesus, your son.” VOTF
Prayer on an Anniversary from VOTF secretary Gaile
Pohlhaus
VOTF
National News: Vigils across the US
marked the fifth anniversary of the Boston
Globe’s revelations of clergy sexual abuse;
this was a story that became a tome of abuse
and cover up in the Catholic Church and it
continues to be told. SNAP organized and led
gatherings in 56 cities to commemorate the
courage of the survivors who continue to come
forward and bare the truth. VOTF
affiliates also marked the anniversary. See coverage in Five
Years Later, including VOTF Stan
Doherty’s scripture
reflection.
- Don’t
miss VOTF NH Carolyn Disco’s excellent
commentary on a response to New Hampshire
Bishop McCormack’s question, “Do you believe
the survivors or do you believe me?” As Carolyn
says, “It now happens that a documentary … ‘Hand
of God’ … part of PBS’ ‘Frontline,’ will give
everyone a chance to judge for themselves before
answering McCormack’s question.” [Note the
new Frontline
(PBS) site for viewing “Hand of God” and
other relevant links.] By the way, if you live
in the Brownsville, Texas diocese, this may
be your only opportunity to view the film on
PBS. See
coverage of that diocese-owned PBS affiliate
station’s decision against airing the scheduled
film.
- Former
VOTF executive director Steve Krueger and Boston’s
Cardinal O’Malley were on the same page on
January 7 – literally. Each wrote an op-ed
piece in the Boston Globe: “Rebuilding
faith, five years on” by Cardinal Sean
O’Malley “Unanswered
questions linger” by Steve Krueger. If
you would like to see a pdf of the Globe page
featuring these commentaries, click
here.
National
Representative Council November 2006 meeting
minutes are
here; also, see NRC
resolutions passed to date. The
National Representative Council has a busy
slate in the coming weeks. Representatives
are discussing the merits of three proposals
focused on survivor support and two proposals
calling for better financial accountability.
Texts of those proposals may soon be ready
for membership-wide evaluation. Approximately
two-thirds of the Regions represented on the
Council are preparing for the biannual elections
to that body. The hope is to complete the elections
by March. The Council also has sent to committees
for evaluation a proposal from the Goal 2 Support
Priests National Working Group.
Site-Seeing,
Etc. will take you to the movies and to
a parish’s unique handling of an abuse allegation,
deliver a sermon, recommend a book and more; Diocese/State
Watch news from NY, MA, WA, and MO;
and see Financial
Accountability: It Takes a Parish.
"Deliver
Us from Evil": The documentary
about the abuser priest Fr. Oliver O'Grady
in California was nominated for an Academy
Award. The "Deliver Us From Evil" website
links to the Voice of the Faithful petition
drive from 2006. Click
here. |
SITE-Seeing,
Etc.
Commonweal magazine’s
Jan. 12 issue has an interesting, and instructive,
take on the Pope’s listening style:“Learning
to Listen” by Francis X. Clooney, SJ, Parkman Professor
of Divinity at Harvard University.
Frank
Douglas (NRC Region 13) notes Public Broadcasting
System coverage of the clergy abuse story covering
the past five years. Part 1: Abuse Scandal Still Echoes
Through Catholic Church; Exposing the Scandal: Key
Players; The Aftermath: Church Reforms. Visit the Archives
of PBS at www.npr.org.
- If
you missed the Jan. 16 PBS Frontline broadcast of “Hand
of God”, you can view the film
here.
The Union
Leader notes “Abuse, but no scandal” in one parish.
Why? Because secrecy is not part of the culture in
this parish. Read
more.
The
annual MidWest SNAP Conference will be held
in Chicago Feb. 16-18. Visit www.snapnetwork.org for
details or contact snapadmin@gmail.com.
Editor’s
choice: James F. Keenan, S.J., Boston College professor
of moral theology, has written nothing less than
a gift for Catholics of all ages. Moral Wisdom:
Lessons and Texts from the Catholic Tradition, published
by Sheed and Ward (2004) is both timeless and timely,
accessible and informed, practical and reflective.
Highly recommended.
Another
perspective: A balanced and pastoral essay
from Rev. Les Wicker, Senior Pastor at First Congregational
Church of Naples, FL.
Anything
you always wanted to know about bishop selection (but
were afraid to ask)? See the Pittsburg diocesan newspaper Pittsburg
Catholic article.
BishopAccountability.org also
noted the five-year anniversary of clergy abuse revelations
with a special issue of their newsletter The Monitor. See
Commentary for a reprint of the recent
issue that links to Jan. 6 and 7, 2002 Boston Globe coverage.
USA
Today reports that
Fr. Cozzens “tackles mandatory celibacy in a
new book, calling it burdensome and unnecessary.”
Letter
to editor takes exception to the use of
the word “calculated” in Jan. 4 editorial.
QUOTE
for our time: “Mercy is the willingness to enter
into the chaos of another.” Fr. James Keenan from
his book Moral Wisdom (see commentary for
book notes).
|