Letters
to the Editor
[write to leaderpub@voiceofthefaithful.org
]
VOTF Maine's Paul Kendrick distributed an America magazine
article of October 11. 2004 on "Priestless
Liturgies" by Peter Kountz. It prompted this response
from VOTFer Mike Nicholas
"Priestless liturgies in lieu of Mass when a priest
cannot be present have a very definite and positive,
indeed necessary, place in the Church's life. As the
number of priests continues to decline I would suggest
that the Church will return more to the Corinthian
model where there were no ordained ministers as such.
The
assembly would simply come together to worship and
a member of the community would receive a Charism
to empower
him/her to celebrate the Eucharist and would then do
so. This way "the Lord would provide" for the needs
of the people. This does not invalidate the role
of
the ministerial priesthood. What it could do is motivate
the Church to want to change its structures
and its modus operandi." Mike Nicholas, Christchurch,
New Zealand
"From Australia, I want to send a message of support.
The pain of losing jobs and a community of faith must
be terrible. We in Australia are seeing examples of
ecclesiastical abuse in relation to parishes that are
progressive and involved in seeking justice. I belong
to such a community here in Brisbane Qld where we are
under a cloud by the Bishop. As a community we have
been actively involved in supporting the creation of
the Esther Centre, which addresses the abuse of power
in human services and faith communities, including clergy
abuse. We have been very involved in supporting victims,
who, as children, were in the care of the church and
state in orphanages.
Do you think we should have some sort of international
response, such as a conference? The abuse of power that
is going on in the name of addressing sexual abuse in
America, is similar here, but much more hidden." Karyn
Walsh
"I too am concerned about the spiritual/emotional
trauma for all our Archdiocesan laity, given that so
soon after being the 'hub' of the clergy sex abuse scandal,
we face the massive church closings tragedy and indeed
the financial crises for many of the laity being laid
off from professional/staff jobs in the parishes, schools,
and social services programs. These people are not covered
with unemployment benefits, and often having no savings
to speak of, due to lower-range salaries commensurate
with working for Catholic-affiliated organizations.
It has bothered and surprised me for over 30 years that
the laity were so unified or laid-back about low-salaries
and minimal benefits.
Meanwhile, on the parish level (where most laity-in-general
become aware of issues), virtually nothing was said/done
by priests/hierarchy to ensure that the laity were aware
of the need to be more financially supportive so that
their lay colleagues who worked for the church could
be treated more justly. For all the myriad ways we laity
understandably feel offended by ordained leaders, we
let 40 years pass without developing a meaningful lay
organization like VOTF where we might take responsibility
and working assiduously for more of a voice on many
issues.
And long before the crisis of the last couple of years,
many laity became very casual as regards attending Mass
or donating realistically to the parishes and other
important institutions/"missions" of the Church. Nor
for 40 years have lay families, evidently, encouraged
their youths to consider becoming priests/Religious
as an honorable or noble option/life-plan, since of
course all clergy come forth from the laity. If there
were legitimate reasons the young adults of recent decades
balked at those vocations, then as laity we should have
kept at the hierarchy to deal with any of the "reasons"
in a constructive way. Better late than never, I guess."
Janette Cranshaw
"I would be much more interested in VOTF if they were
less timid about their third mission. I think the organization
has done a fine job countering the sexual abuse scandals
but there are so many other important fronts on which
the church needs to be challenged. Most recently, the
suggestion by some bishops that voting for Kerry is
a sin is a scandal in itself. Why doesn't VOTF get all
over that? In an effort not to offend, the organization
seems to be sticking its head in the ground...or perhaps
I am missing something. If the latter is true, please
enlighten me." Marge Cambre, PhD
"I wish the Bishops would pay as much attention to
the damage that has been done to victims of abuse in
the church and the people whose churches have been closed
as they do to trying to get a Republican elected. Instead
of downgrading Senator Kerry they should clean their
own house. You look at a roomful of bishops and then
look at congress in session and you see the same thing
- a bunch of men running the church and the country
and neither doing a very good job of it. Doesn't anyone
believe in separation of church and state anymore?"
Bernadette Fitzpatrick
"The latest diocese to resist discovery of personnel
files of priests accused of sexual abuse is Sacramento.
Plaintiffs' lawyers argue that they are entitled to
review these files in order to properly prepare their
clients' case. The defendant diocese claims that because
the diocese is a private employer, not a public institution
and not a recipient of public funding, it has no obligation
to disclose the employment files (i.e., complaints,
disciplinary actions, transfers, etc.) of its priests.
I wonder why no one argues that the Church, as a tax-exempt
organization has no secrecy or privacy rights. As a
retired lawyer and 70 year old Catholic, I am ashamed
of the efforts of our dioceses to resist full disclosure.
Any suggestions?" Maureen Carlson, Pasadena, CA
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