AFFILIATE NEWS

East - South - Centeral - West

VOTF's first e-news anchor Goz Gosselin is retiring from his post. Parish Voice Chair Mary Ann Keyes speaks our thanks for his indispensable service:

Goz Gosselin, better known by his e-mail name terriandgoz, is stepping down as our daily reporter of the national and international news on the Church crisis. What started out two years ago as a few people receiving news clips from Goz grew to be a list that probably reaches over 1000 people. Each time we had a new Regional Coordinator come on board, Goz would add the name and that regional coordinator would then pass the daily e-mail on to all the affiliates in his region. Each affiliate leader would forward it to all of his/her members. One member passed it on to over 150 people each day. The benefit of this service was the realization that the history recorded in the National Review Board report was not history and the crisis in the Church continues.

Goz was also the leader of an affiliate and one-time Regional Coordinator of the state of Florida; we are deeply grateful to Goz for his commitment to Voice of the Faithful, a movement kept alive through the dedication of volunteers. Goz is the personification of all that is good about this movement, its volunteers and the gifts we bring to each other.

Suzy Nauman in the Parish Voice office reports: VOTF's 200th affiliate has arrived! The Mid-Michigan affiliate in Midland, MI was formed under the leadership of Harry Grether. But we haven't stopped there - in the past two weeks, we have added Tulsa, OK, Lancaster, PA, and Englewood, OH. To date, Voice has members in 39 countries, 50 states, and Canada.

VOTF New Jersey
Submitted by Maria Cleary

Greetings VOTF Family! This month, we'd like to put everything else aside and share news about an important marketing tool we've been using. How would you like to have aFREE WEEKLY TV SHOW FOR YOUR VOTF AFFILIATE? We have one here in NJ, and every VOTF group can have one, too, by following these simple steps:

1. Call your cable TV operator, and find out the name of the "Public Access Coordinator."
2. Call that person and say that you'd like to produce a weekly, half-hour talk show for your non-profit group.
3. Get details from the Access Coordinator about procedures; how to fill out an application, the location of the public access studio, how and when to begin training. The Access Coordinator is hired for this specific reason. It's your cable dollars at work!
4. Get together a group of about 4 people minimum (you can use more) who are willing to be trained as a television crew over the course of 4-6 weeks, perhaps one evening a week. (If you already know people with TV production experience, you're well ahead of the game.)
5. Schedule training sessions, and go for training in how to operate the studio equipment.
6. Find a host for your show.
7. Book guests and studio time.
8. Tape your shows and have them broadcast.

Each cable TV operator serves a certain number of towns in what's called a "franchise area." Find out which towns are served by your company. Then call the surrounding towns and get the names of their cable operators and Public Access Coordinators. You can then send your tapes to the other cable companies, and ask that they be broadcast on their system - as long as you have a VOTF member residing in their viewing area. Within no time, you can be all over the state!

This takes time, no doubt, BUT IT COSTS NOTHING and the results are truly worth the effort. You'll be the beneficiaries of channel-surfing. I can't tell you how many people have told me they've seen our show - and we're on opposite "60 Minutes"! (….that's going to change…you can request a specific air time, and if it's available, you'll get it.)

We are most willing to help out any affiliate who's ready to embark on this mission. It is much less daunting than you might think, and more fun than you may imagine! Please be in touch with Maria Cleary at clearymf@optonline.net if you'd like more information.

Many blessings from your VOTF sisters and brothers from New Jersey.

VOTF Winchester Area, MA
Submitted by Bob Morris

One of the highlights of our meetings in April was a presentation by Sister Mary Johnson, Associate Professor of Sociology and Theology at Emmanuel College. About 85 were in attendance. Sister Mary discussed two books by Ruth Wallace, Professor Emeritus at George Washington University, regarding the appointment of men and women throughout the United States to manage parishes. Such appointments are fully consistent with canon law, and are almost certainly to increase in number as the shortage of priests shows no signs of abating.

Earlier in the month, Terry McKiernan, a co-founder of Bishopaccountability.org, addressed about 60 people regarding the group's origins, current activities, and goals. Terry led a lively discussion on a wide range of topics touching on the importance of bishop accountability.

We are still busy planning three major events in May and June -a pot-luck supper for priests on May 22, a coffeehouse fundraiser for abuse survivors on June 4, and a meeting for leaders of parish voice affiliates in the Archdiocese of Boston on June 12. As of May 13, we will have been meeting weekly for two years, with at least 20 people in attendance at each meeting. Simply put, it's not history!

VOTF Winchester Area - Anniversary Report (May 13, 2004)
Submitted by Alice Wadden

This Winchester Area Voice of the Faithful had its second anniversary meeting on Monday, May 10, 2004 and Bob Morris, in his introduction, reminded us that we had 90 meetings, so far. We were content to see that survivors were there and that they knew that we wanted to listen to them. Many other Parish Voices also joined us such as Wellesley, Needham and Cambridge. We also recognized the kindness of the entire faith community of St. Eulalia¹s for hosting our meetings for two years, even though this Parish Voice has members from many other towns and parishes.

The two speakers were Kathleen L. McChesney, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Office of Child and Youth Protection of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and James E. Post, Ph.D., President, Voice of the Faithful . The topic was "The Audits, the National Review Board Report, and the John Jay Report: What Do They Tell Us? Where Do We Go From Here?"

The first speaker, Dr. Kathleen McChesney spoke of her work on the National Review Board and the twelve Catholic professionals who interviewed sixty experts to create a framework for a second NRB study to answer the question, Why did this happen? Dr. McChesney said that early conclusions suggest a failure in screening prospective candidates for the priesthood and failures in formation. She also noted the breakdown of communication between dioceses.

Among several NRB projects being considered for the future are the establishment of guidelines for the 196 Diocesan Review Boards; how to implement the Charter for the Protection of Children; and background checks for everyone (a significant problem is that 20% of the priests come from outside the US where it is difficult to check the credentials.

Dr. McChesney complimented VOTF and said that we were energetic, imaginative and dedicated.

Dr. Post began his remarks by praising Bob Morris, Marge Bean and Suzy Nauman . Dr Post said that a sense of disbelief connects us and repeated "How do we help the survivors?" and "There is still so much left to be done." He believes that abuse of a child is life-altering and reminded the audience that survivors will be with us for the rest of our lives.

Dr. Post spoke of VOTF Priest of Integrity Fr. Thomas Doyle and his recent removal by Archbishop Edwin O'Brien from his military chaplaincy position. Dr. Post wrote to Archbishop O¹Brien to say that Fr. Doyle's dismissal had the appearance of being punitive. He also addressed the importance of VOTF's third goal, standing behind the work being done by the Office of Child and Youth Protection, the vital importance of lay involvement in our Church and the need for transparency and openness in Church governance.

How can we create a wonderful religious experience in the Roman Catholic Church? We can't, unless we continue to become more informed, continue to pray together, continue to support VOTF's three goals and continue to speak out together. PHOTO HERE

VOTF Northshore, MA
Submitted by Vince Guerra

The three VOTF affiliates in the Northshore completed a highly successful series of collaborative programs by sponsoring a total of six Faith Formation lecture presentations entitled "The Living Christ, and We His Disciples" from Fall 2003 to Spring 2004.The first two talks were hosted by VOTF-Northshore in Topsfield in October/November and featured Father Michael Himes of the Boston College Department of Theology on the humanity and divinity of Jesus. In January/February, the Lynn area VOTF group hosted Father John Baldovin from Weston Jesuit School of Theology who spoke on Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. Seacoast VOTF covered the final two events - the affiliate engaged theologian Father Tom Leclerc of the LaSalette order to present the theology of the Gospels and the Epistles of St. Paul. Beginning in the Fall, the series will expand to eight presentations to be held at the same three affiliate locations, all relating to vital faith formation topics that help strengthen our Catholic identity.

On April 25, VOTF Northshore held a meeting highlighted by three survivors who shared their experiences and hope for the future. It was a very moving experience for everyone in attendance. On Thursday, May 13, Seacoast VOTF will have as guest speaker Jim Post, president of VOTF, giving his address on "Being Catholic in a Time of Crisis" at Holy Family parish, Amesbury, Mass. [Watch the June issue of In the Vineyard for photos and coverage]

VOTF Boston, MA
Submitted by Carolyn Shipley

To open the first meeting of the Boston Voice of the Faithful Council, April 12, 2004, we asked each person to introduce themselves, say which parish they are from and share one word that describes how they feel about the current situation in the Archdiocese of Boston. The words people chose ranged from "anxious," "sad," and "hopeful" to "thievery," "leaderless," and "steam-rolled."

The focus of the meeting was to be on Reconfiguration but there was a lot of energy around responding to Archbishop O'Malley's statements about feminism and his exclusion of women from the feet washing ceremony on Holy Thursday. It was decided that we would work on that issue as well as reconfiguration.

We then broke into small groups to answer the questions: 1) What do you think are the challenges and concerns facing the Archdiocese of Boston because of reconfiguration?; 2)What should VOTF do in response to the recent statements and actions of Archbishop O'Malley regarding women in the RCAB?

We reviewed and summarized the many answers that the groups produced. We summarized them and voted on them. The women's groups decided to focus on two action steps: 1) Write a letter/Op Ed piece describing how the Archbishop's statements and actions affected women in the RCAB. 2) Plan an event that would highlight the concerns of women in the RCAB.

The Reconfiguration groups produced conceptual ideas and actual specific action steps that came out of the discussion. Conceptual ideas included: 1) organization of parishes to create new roles for the laity, provide education on the appropriate role of the laity in assisting the priests in administering the parish; 2) addressing the burdens and responsibilities on parishes that remain open; 3) addressing the loss of community in suppressed parishes; 4) supporting VOTF affiliates in closed parishes; and 5) requesting explanations of how the decisions to close parishes were made and call for transparency, especially in financial accountability.

Ideas for action included: 1) proactive issue-specific committees at the parish level; 2) resist/reject closings - advocate for alternatives; and 3) produce press releases to take advantage of media coverage. We asked people to complete a feedback form about the first meeting and solicited input for future agendas.

VOTF Cleveland, OH
Submitted by Fred McGunagle

"You can't understand the church in America unless you understand the history from which it comes," Father Jack Leahy told the St. Christopher (Cleveland) Parish Voice at its April 27 meeting. "You have to ask yourself why what happened, happened." Mostly what happened, he said, has been a clash between European paternalism and American egalitarianism.

Father Leahy is both a veteran educator and pastor emeritus of St. Bartholomew Church. He now teaches in the Institute of Catholic studies at John Carroll University. The university's namesake was the first American Catholic bishop - and he was elected to that position by his priests. Popes, who had been distracted by European matters, soon put an end to that sort of thing.

"The church in Europe associated itself with the aristocracy," Father Leahy told an audience of about 50. "Bishops and priests from Europe came with a European mentality." At one point, 23 of the 28 American bishops were Europeans, and they quickly put the kibosh on attempts to give laypeople a greater voice. Later on, priests educated in Rome were inculcated with the European mentality. Back home, they resisted efforts to democratize the church. "When you're educated in Rome, you do as the Roman do," he said. "They wrote to Rome," and the Pope intervened.

At the Vatican I Council, American bishops were upset by the move to declare the doctrine of papal infallibility. "They said, 'We can't explain this to our people,'" Father Leahy reported. When the vote was scheduled, "twenty-three bishops wrote the Pope, "We respect you, you're our Pope, but we're going home tomorrow," and they sailed for America before the vote. Ninety years later Pope John XXIII told the Vatican II Council it could deal with everything except contraception and abortion. "The Curia heard that and they went wild," Father Leahy said.

When the news leaked that a series of papal commissions had told Paul VI that the ban on contraception should be removed, American priests were overjoyed that they would no longer have to defend the unpopular teaching. Paul's defense of the ban in Humanae Vitae was a blow to them and a major factor in subsequent resignations. "You had priests who said, 'That's it!'" He attributed Paul's decision to override the experts to an American: "John Ford, a Jesuit, got to the Pope. He said, 'We have put people in hell for hundreds of years because of this and we cannot change it now.'"

Father Leahy has a doctorate in history and has taught at Borromeo College, St. John College and John Carroll. He has also been president of St. Mary High School in Akron and director of Parmadale Children's home in addition to parish work.

The next meeting of the Parish Voice will be May 27 to hear Father Thomas Tifft, president-rector of St. Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology, talk about "Priestly Formation in the Church Today." He will describe changes in seminarians over the 21 years he has taught them. He will also discuss recent changes in the wake of sex scandals to screen candidates and prepare priests to deal with their sexuality.

VOTF CENTRAL

VOTF Chicago, Il
Submitted by Terry O'Connor - VOTF Coordinator Archdiocese of Chicago

The following message was sent by Chicago, Il VOTF to members and supporters:

On March 11th, five Chicago members of Voice of the Faithful met with Cardinal Francis George. It was in one sense an historical event comprised of the original Parish Affiliates along with VOTF business and community leaders from each corner of the Archdiocese. It was a meeting of dialog on the issues of the crisis in our Church.

This meeting was eight months in the planning and when it was over an hour and a half later, we all prayed together that with God's help, we are able to heal the many victims of this tragedy.

The five-member Chicagoland-VOTF -Dialog group, are grateful for the encouragement of supporters to proceed with a plan of consensus from across the Archdiocese. The letters and e-mails kept us focused and on track. We are also grateful to all the priests of integrity and victims that came forward and asked how they might help; friends in Arlington Heights, Chicago, Evanston, Inverness, Libertyville, Naperville, Oak Park, Palatine, Winnetka, and Zion who supported the plan as advisors and consultants; and last, but not least, to Cardinal George for welcoming us as we shared our thoughts, concerns and recommendations in a very straight forward manner. Terry O'Connor

What follows is an excerpted summary of the VOTF Chicago meeting with Cardinal George. It may serve readers as a prospective model or an eye-opener for others engaged in similar efforts.

Last year's focus and objectives

We were critical of the lack of attention given to victims of abuse.
We communicated our concerns in one of our first letters to Cardinal George, only to hear shortly thereafter that he was meeting with victims of abuse and had been for the previous nine months, while planning to provide approximately 25 million dollars to victims of abuse in the Archdiocese of Chicago.

We were also critical of the lack of control and accountability of order priests.
A few months later, Cardinal George announced that under the new rules in the Archdiocese of Chicago, all people associated with the work of the church would be held to the same new standards. Order Priests were specifically mentioned.

We were concerned with the lack of any proactive changes in the process of how the church acts. As a wise person once said, "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got."
The mission of healing is tied to the laity being more involved in the decision making process at every parish in the Archdiocese. An Archdiocesan Synod is very much a topic with Cardinal George as well as with VOTF in Chicago.

Meeting with Cardinal George, March 11, 2004

The meeting began with everyone introducing themselves and sharing their involvement in parish life in the Chicago Archdiocese. Cardinal George suggested we begin and we did so by communicating that we were at this meeting as friends who are also in pain.

We began by asking the Cardinal what were his plans for the archdiocese and how we might help.

The Cardinal recounted the areas where the diocese had made strides in the protection of children. Some of these are as follows: a plan for background checks for all employees and volunteers who work with children or who would be seen as in a position of trust by children; implementation of the VIRTUS program to ultimately train employees and volunteers on the warning signs of sexual abuse and the necessary precautions to take with regard to the protection of children. This plan will be closely monitored by the archdiocese and everyone is mandated to participate; the archdiocesan website now has connections to VIRTUS training and also provides a way for victims to check on a particular priest as to whether they had ever been implicated in previous incidents of sexual abuse; all parishes have been directed to regularly publish hotline numbers for victims to call the archdiocese.

During the Bishops' Conference in Dallas, the Cardinal was quoted by the press as saying, "Bishops who moved priests around as a means to manage sexual abuse must be held accountable in some way for it." We acknowledged our interest in working toward bishop accountability. We asked if the Cardinal would support this effort actively so we could get closer to the healing process.

The Cardinal responded that bishops are looking at this question in two different ways. There was a time when counselors and therapists advised that some priests could be placed back in ministry, he said, and the Cardinal noted that this was no longer acceptable. On the issue of accountability only, the Cardinal said that only Rome can replace a bishop.

The Chicago Archdiocese, dealt with many instances of sexual abuse in the early nineties. This foresight has provided Chicago the opportunity to have less of a tragedy than what other parts of the United States have gone through. We asked the Cardinal about maintaining this leadership posture rather than simply being satisfied that Chicago has had less of a tragedy? We said that we believe we are sitting on a moment in history and Chicago Catholics are waiting to hear from him.

The Cardinal responded that making history is not what he is worried about; his concerns are for the priests and Catholics in the Archdiocese of Chicago and that is where he believes his energy must go. Today, the priest on the altar has the respect of the parishioners. Parishioners know he is a good priest or he wouldn't be there. This is the strength of the Church today in the Archdiocese of Chicago.

We noted that there are a lot of issues that Rome needs to think about. People are further depressed by some of the delays around those issues in Rome. The Cardinal reminded us that Rome moves slowly.

In our correspondence leading up to our meeting, we shared thoughts on an Archdiocesan Synod* in Chicago, as a vehicle to invite greater lay participation in the decision-making process. We asked the Cardinal where he stood on such a synod.

The Cardinal said that efforts are already under way with the Archdiocesan Pastoral Councils. He said there is a need to network among them more closely so they are connected with better communications in the recommendation process. It would be the first time in 100 years that a synod was formed here.

We expressed our concern for balance in the network (synod) with delegates or delegations from other lay groups that may not always agree with the Cardinal. The clergy should also be involved with such groups as the Association of Chicago Priests. Priests having a greater voice in the process would negate the need to operate as a separate organization. Balance is the key to believability in our opinion.

The Cardinal noted that we also need to remember that the Hispanic and Polish communities are active and a large part of our Catholic community. We need to consider immigrants, our hospitals and our universities so the entire Catholic community is involved.

We expressed concern for the Church in the US over the next two years and the prospect of waiting that long for a synod to get off the ground. Our feeling was that issues such as bishop accountability can't wait 12 to 16 months. Everyone is looking for Church leadership on this issue.

The Cardinal explained that the issue is very complex and repeated that only Rome can replace a bishop.

The issue of money is another key point in the crisis and in our Church. We asked the Cardinal if he anticipated greater openness on the financial side of every diocese and parish.

The Cardinal replied that if Canon law had been followed, there might still have been a problem, but it would have surfaced and been corrected in a more timely manner. Money in the amounts used in the current crisis should have gone through an approval process that was not always followed and, in effect, violated Canon Law. The Cardinal said that there are in place today financial councils in most parishes and they are beginning to play a greater role.

We presented the Cardinal with the book A Human Being Died Last Night and thanked him for listening, answering our questions and dialoging with us. We agreed to have another discussion in the near future as issues arise. Cardinal George then asked if we would pray with him before we left. He led us in prayer as we asked for God's help in healing our Church and all the victims of our Church. The following week the Archdiocese of Chicago made a sizable donation to Linkup's "The Farm" for healing victims.

Our discussion was to try to get across to the Cardinal our passion for the Church and the importance we feel needs to be placed on these topics. Cardinal George is making the effort to talk with many lay people; that is a good start and holds promise for our local Church and the greater Church. Let us continue to pray for the People of God, we the laity, our priests and parish leadership, our local Pastoral Councils, Cardinal George, and most importantly the victims of abuse and those who support them.

Chicagoland-Voice of the Faithful-Dialog Team
Marion Flynn-Evanston Representative
Joyce Gradel-Oak Park Representative
Patricia Houston-Chicago Representative
Robert Houston-Chicago Representative
Terrence J. O'Connor-Inverness Representative

Please Note: If you know someone interested in receiving this and other summaries in the Archdiocese of Chicago please have them sign up for membership in Voice of the Faithful at http://www.votf.org. If you or they are also interested in starting a Parish Affiliate or Listening Group in the Chicago and suburban area please contact toconnor847@mynex.net for more information.

[*A synod is a gathering of Church leaders to decide or advise on matters touching the life of the Church. Diocesan synods, as opposed to world-wide synods, offer the bishop of the diocese advice and might include clerical and lay people, including religious.]

VOTF Archdiocese of Peoria, IL
Submitted by John Ryan

On April 23, we held "Community Forum on Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church: Lessons Learned, in Bloomington, IL."

Justice Anne Burke was our luncheon speaker, and what we saw and heard was not the same Anne Burke we saw and heard earlier this year at the City Club luncheon in Chicago. What we saw and heard was the Anne Burke reacting to the recent decision of the bishops to "delay" the second audit. Those of you who will see and hear her at the Fordham event on May 22 are in for some fighting words from the Chair of the National Lay Review Board.

It is important to note that Anne Burke sees Voice of the Faithful as representing the voices in the Church that need to be heard these days, and particularly on this issue. I hope that we will be marshalling our resources nationally and at the affiliate levels for a full court press on the bishops to consider the grave consequences of their serious miscalculation, not only in the area of rebuilding some sense of trust and confidence in our Church, but also, and more importantly, to keep their commitment to create safe environments for children.

At the affiliate levels, we need to mount campaigns with our local bishops urging them to commit voluntarily to a second audit of their own dioceses regardless of what the bishops collectively decide to do at their June meeting in Denver. We need to urge our local bishops to go to Denver prepared to vote in favor of at least a second (2004) audit, and to lay the groundwork for continued independent lay oversight for the next several years.

The audio of Anne Burke's talk will be posted on our website at www.votfpeoria.org.

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