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Letters to the Editor
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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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In the Vineyard
November 2004
Volume 4, Issue 10

Page One

Survivor Support News

Priests’ Support Working Group

Keeping the Faith: The Story of Voice of the Faithful

Letters to the Editor

Printer Friendly Version

In the Vineyard Archives

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