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Please
send comments and inquiries to pthorp.ed@votf.org.
“Anger
is the beginning of courage.” St. Augustine,
Fourth Century
“Charity does really heal. Perfect charity heals
perfectly.” Richard
Sipe, 2004
Balancing
the two thoughts above isn’t
easy, but the two have come to rest, it seems, on the
fulcrum of justice and accountability. Our July 2005
Indianapolis “assignment” for Accountability
Now is nearing its kickoff date; plans for VOTF’s
Campaign for Accountability are spelled out by VOTF
president Jim Post in Commentary’s “On
Our Watch.” Also in Commentary is a re-iteration
of VOTF’s support for anonymity protection for
survivors following mis-information circulated recently.
Read on and please let us know your thoughts at pthorp.ed@votf.org
VOTF
Officer ELECTIONS for 2006-8: Voting Feb. 7-22
Q:
How many times in your Catholic faith life have
you been asked for a vote on a course of action?
A: Never.
NEWS: Not
any more. VOTF officer elections are upon us
and
your vote will determine our future
course as a Catholic faith movement committed to
the Catholic Church. To vote, you must be a member
of VOTF. If you have never registered, you can
do so by going to www.votf.org. As
earlier communicated to members, if you are not
sure if the VOTF database has your current email
address (e.g., you did
not receive the Jan. 6 notice to all members about
the elections process), send your email address
with your name and full mailing address no later
than January 31 to votf_elections@yahoo.com.
For general Election News and details, go to LETTER.
Voting will take place electronically only.
Important Dates:
February 1: VOTF members will receive an email
that will provide a link to Election details:
the names of all nominees and the nominees on
the official ballot, including their personal
statements and list of Officer duties.
February 7: VOTF members will receive an email
from Campus Vote
providing a link to the official ballot and instructions
on how to vote.
February 7-22: Members will be able to vote in
accordance with the
instructions issued by Campus Vote.
February 28: By this date, VOTF will announce the
winners of the election.
Anyone
who has questions or concerns about the elections
process or procedures leading up to and
during the voting period can contact affiliate
leaders; Executive Director Ray Joyce (617.558.5252)
at rjoyce@votf.org),
or email Bill Casey, chair of the Elections Committee
at b13909@comcast.net.
Your voices constitute a collective prayer for healing
our Church. |
*****BREAKING
NEWS in the Boston Archdiocese provides a lesson for
concerned Catholics everywhere: The long and ardent
battle on behalf of Senate Bill 1074, which would move
churches toward the same transparency and accountability
in place for other charities, is facing strong opposition
as the State House of Representatives took up the bill
for debate on January 25. See “Anatomy of a Setback:
Accountability Denied?”
*****New
Vatican document available: Encyclical Letter
Deus Caritas Est of The Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI
to
the Bishops Priests and Deacons Men and Women Religious
and All the Lay Faithful on Christian Love. The full
text is available here.
PARISH
Lessons
On Parish Closings: Appeals Denied by Vatican
but Step 2 is in progress: The Associated Press reports “Word
that the Vatican had denied the appeals of St. Jeremiah
and nine other parishes closed by the Boston Archdiocese
didn't discourage the 50 faithful who gathered Saturday
night for a regular prayer service at the church in suburban
Framingham.” Parishioners said they expected the
denial and would now petition the Church’s equivalent
of the Supreme Court, the Apostolic Signatura, where “doomed
parishes have won reprieves in the past.” The affected
parishes are Our Lady of Lourdes in Revere; Infant Jesus-St.
Lawrence in Brookline; St. Frances Xavier Cabrini in
Scituate; St. James the Great in Wellesley; St. Augustine
in South Boston; Star of the Sea in Quincy; Our Lady
of Mercy in Belmont; Sacred Heart in Natick; St. Jeremiah
in Framingham; and St. Anselm in Sudbury.
On
Priest Shortages: Parishioners of St. Andrew the Apostle
Church (Worcester, Mass.) learned
over the weekend
that their pastor is being reassigned and Bishop Robert
J. McManus will not send another priest to serve the
parish. The story was covered in the 1/12 issue of the
Telegram & Gazette at www.telegram.com. Read VOTF
member Dan Dick’s comments in Letters
to the Editor. Let us know what you think at pthorp.ed@votf.org.
SITE-SEEING,
ETC.
-
As noted in the 1/12 Vineyard and worth repeating: ARCC – James
Coriden, JCD, Academic Dean Emeritus at Washington Theological
Union, prepared for ARCC “The
Canonical Doctrine of Reception,” which is a timely consideration
of community as St. Stan’s situation, along with
Our Lady Help of Christians in Newton, Mass., parish
closings and priest ousters and re-assignments continue
to distort “communio.”
-
REQUIRED READING: “Why Ensuring
Accountability for Clergy Sexual Abuse of Children
Has Proved So Difficult,
Even Though It Remains So Crucial” by Marci
A. Hamilton, Paul R. Verkuil Chair in Public
Law at Benjamin
N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University.
Click
here. An archive of Hamilton’s columns
on the legal aspects of clergy abuse can be found
on the FindLaw
web site.
-
The USCCB
web site has an updated lay ministry page inclusive
of a link to “Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the
Lord” (pdf) and a lay ministry newsletter.
-
SNAP’s web
site is noting a painful repeat of abuse
accusations against a much-loved priest in
Chicago as reported in the Chicago Sun Times.Note
what’s
new at bishopaccountability.org. Over
7,000 articles about the crisis: January-June
2003, July-December
2003, January-June 2004, July-December 2004,
January-June 2005,
and July-December 2005.
-
Following Bishop Gumbleton’s recent statement on
his own clergy sexual abuse experience, readers inquired
as to how they might contact the Bishop. Bishop Gumbleton’s
email is tjgdet@juno.com; also note the New
York Times editorial of Jan. 18, “A Path to Justice,” which
noted the Bishop’s lone stand.
-
Denied access to the Vatican’s “Secret Archives”? Those archives are now open and accessible through the
Internet. Take a virtual tour of the archives after choosing
your language on the Vatican’s
web site.
-
You don’t have to LIVE in the Boston area to LEARN
in the Boston area. Boston
College’s
online program of courses is up
and running.
PUBLICATION HIGHLIGHTS:
- Again in the lead, the Jan.
20 issue of National Catholic Reporter hones in on
the core issues of our
time as Catholics. Read their current editorial, “As
calendar turns, crisis remains.” The column begins
with a quote from the “Bennett Report” on
the “Crisis in the Catholic Church in the United
States,” February 2004. “The church cannot
and should not hide behind its lawyers or the law blindly
and in all circumstances.”
- US Catholic Feb. ’06 “Leading
ladies of the early church” is a brief overview
of the women who equaled the men in the building of
the early Christian community.
- The Catholic Common Ground Initiative,
inaugurated by the late Cardinal Bernardin, publishes
through the
National Pastoral Life Center (NPLC) an excellent quarterly “Initiative
Report” that recaps the work of the Initiative
in fostering dialogue. The current issue includes an
essay by retired Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn, NY and
current member of NPLC Board of Directors Joseph M.
Sullivan. “Bishops and Laity Need to Talk To
One Another.” The message is timeless and worth
reading. Go to www.nplc.org (pdf) for the full text.
-
St. Anthony Messenger’s February issue
features Fr. Donald Cozzens on “How
to Build a Better Church.”
-
In the Vineyard is published twice monthly.
If you’ve
missed any of our nearly fifty issues, you can
catch up by visiting the Vineyard Archives accessed
on our web
site. If you or someone you know
would like to receive this free service, send your
email address to pthorp.ed@votf.org.
QUOTE
for our time: “Bishop Gumbleton's
colleagues shudder at having to pay for the sins
of dead priests.
But it would be easier to sympathize with their predicament
if they had acted more uniformly and assertively to comfort
and compensate the abused. More than three years after
the American bishops resolved to set things right, that
goal has not been met. Many dioceses have been less than
enthusiastic in urging the victims to come forward, and
some still rebuff such complaints. As Bishop Gumbleton
pointed out, the continued existence of many hidden abusers
and silent victims demands further action.” New
York Times editorial, Jan. 18, 2006. |