DIOCESE/State Watch
INTERNATIONAL Update:
VOTF Ireland
VOTF Ireland’s Sean O’Conaill reports on a disappointing outcome of a VOTF Ulster meeting. The good news follows Sean’s report.
Catholics in Northern Ireland have been under challenge for centuries from the politically dominant Reformation Christian traditions, so they tend to be very defensive of their religious leaders. This complicates the life of VOTF there, because ideas like accountability and transparency, and Vatican II thinking on the role of laypeople in the church, are less familiar here than in the US.
This explains why, as Irish co-coordinator for VOTF, I was seriously challenged at a public meeting on Tuesday 24th October in Derry for our decision to send to Rome a critical report on the leadership of Dr. Seamus Hegarty, the bishop of Derry - who is also in Rome in late October for this year's Ad Limina visit of all Irish bishops.
As we had agreed to listen to any questions and criticism that people might wish to put to us, we allowed a strong lobby in favour of the bishop to tell us at length exactly what they thought of us - which wasn't much. We weren't quite dumped in the river Foyle, which flows past the City Hotel where our meeting was held, but our heads were left ringing to accusations of embarrassing Dr. Hegarty when in Rome, and dividing our church.
On a more positive note, we got some enthusiastic new members, and a reputation for rocking the boat - and are not in the least abashed. After all, Catholics have always been rebels here.
Our report, abridged at www.votfi.com records, among other things, what we see as inaction by the bishop on a plan to provide church support for all victims of sexual abuse, outlined in the Irish bishops' document of February 2005 “Towards Healing”. We also complain about his inaction in providing “structures of belonging” for laypeople in the church, called for in Ireland by Pope John Paul II in 1999 at the last Irish Ad Limina.
I was personally present when Dr. Hegarty undertook in 2003 to move to an implementation phase on proposals for collaborative ministry that emerged from a five-year consultation process - a promise that remains unfulfilled to this day.
Our report went to the Congregation for Bishops, which manages every Ad Limina visit. Pope Benedict XVI, who will have met privately with Bishop Hegarty at some time during the visit, will address all the Irish bishops on Friday 28th. That address will be read with unusual attention in Ireland, where a series of clerical child sex abuse scandals since 1994 has accelerated a secularising process accompanying an economic boom on most of the island (though not yet in Derry).
The pope is likely to urge the Irish bishops to attempt to stem this secularising process somehow - but it is difficult to see how this can be done without introducing all over the island what we say is needed in Derry – structures of participation and accountability that will enable the whole church community to address the challenge our bishops themselves threw down in 2005.
Vision isn't lacking among our bishops collectively, but follow-through most definitely too often is. The embarrassment of a bishop seems to us a relatively minor error, set against the urgent need to restore our church's reputation for integrity and compassion for all victims, including the too many victims of clerical sex abuse.
We are still reeling a bit after the public meeting, but not in the least repentant for testing the theory that, if not downwardly accountable, a bishop can be, where necessary, upwardly accountable. We wait with great interest to see what will follow. This just could be an important moment in the development of the Irish church.
Certainly it will be crucial for VOTF in Ireland. The usual clerical requirement of lay deference to authority got us predictably nowhere in our mission, and our reservoir of politeness was eventually exhausted this summer as the crisis of our church, and of its victims, deepened.
[Pope Benedict’s response to what he heard during the Irish ad limina
visit was immediate and strong. See the full
text of the Pope's remarks.]
For more on this story, go to the Irish
Examiner.
MALTA
Associated Press reports that the Diocese of Malta is launching an investigation
into the relationship between US Rep. Foley and Roman Catholic priest Anthony
Mercieca. Read
more. The story was also picked up by CBS
News.
SNAP notes on their we site a 10/22 Boston Globe story suggesting
that Church immunity in Mexico is eroding.
Tragedy continues to unfold in Mexico and Los Angeles, CA
“
For two decades, dozens of children have accused the Rev. Nicolás Aguilar of
molesting or brutally raping them. He faces an indictment charging sexual abuse
in Los Angeles and at least five formal complaints in Mexico. Yet at 65 he remains
at large, still working as a priest in villages here.” Subscribers can read more
in the New
York Times, Oct.
21. Also, see coverage in the Vineyard issues of Oct.
5th and Oct
19th.
NATIONAL Update:
VOTF New York, NY
Statement from Voice of the Faithful New York on the Public Exchange of Charges and Accusations between His Eminence Edward Cardinal Egan, Archbishop of New York, and some Clergy of the Archdiocese of New York
Voice of the Faith New York deplores the unseemly and unChristian public exchange of charges and counter-charges between Cardinal Edward Egan and the priests of the Archdiocese of New York that has spread through the media over the past two weeks.
A letter circulated anonymously by a committee of priests gave voice to serious concerns about the state of communication between Cardinal Egan and the priests of the archdiocese. These issues are shared by concerned members of the laity, as the membership of Voice of the Faithful New York will attest. It is unfortunate that the concerns expressed in the letter were undercut by the anonymity of the source. Nevertheless, all Catholics of New York, clergy and laity alike, would benefit from more frequent and more open communication with our spiritual shepherd.
After calling a meeting of his Priest’s Council to discuss the letter, Cardinal Egan issued a statement affirming his availability to meet with members of the clergy. Sadly, Cardinal Egan then felt impelled to issue another letter, which rapidly and inevitably found its way into the media. In this letter, he charges that the instigators behind the original letter were priests accused of sexual abuse or their supporters, without offering any support whatsoever for this accusation.
Since when does a cardinal archbishop in the Catholic Church defend the reputation and good name of our beloved church by issuing wild, sweeping smears of his clergy? Cardinal Egan holds the most powerful Catholic microphone in the greater metropolitan area, but he has hardly ever bothered to turn it on. Now, after four years of virtually absolute silence from him on the scandal that has afflicted our church since 2002, years in which members of the laity called on him again and again to speak to us about what has been termed the greatest crisis of the Catholic Church in America, we get to read news stories of him slandering his own clergy with unsupported accusations?
He singles out only one priest by name, Msgr. Howard Calkins, a priest of great integrity who spoke to the press in haste about the first, anonymous letter. Many members of the laity and clergy know and respect Msgr. Calkins, and while he may have spoken in haste, he spoke from his heart about the need for greater openness and communication in our community of faith. We respect him for his honesty, and we vow to defend him against attacks.
We call on Cardinal Egan to desist from issuing vague allegations, which can
only serve to harm the church he seeks to protect. We encourage him to follow
through with his announced plan to meet with members of the clergy at the vicariate
level. We ask him to make these meetings open forums and to invite interested
members of the laity to attend, so that we all can work together to restore
a climate of trust and mutual respect to the Archdiocese of New York.
For more on this story, go to the New
York Times and the New
York Post.
10/17/06 - Voice of the Faithful Responds to "No Confidence" New
York's Cardinal Edward Egan - Read
more
Springfield, MA: While Congress and the Roman Catholic Church are sharing
the sexual abuse spotlight at the moment, VOTF’s 2005 Priest of Integrity Award
recipient Fr. James Scahill noted, "Leadership protecting its power at the
expense of the truth and the protection of children in both instances. St.
Michael's [East Longmeadow, MA] parishioners were the first ones to shake the
trees, and our children are safer." In the same Republican article, John Bowen
of VOTF Longmeadow expressed his hope that bishops will understand one thing – people
cannot be fooled forever. For more on this story click
here.
OHIO:
On Saturday October 14th, Catholics from parishes in the Toledo Diocese gathered to listen to a diverse group of speakers from all over Ohio talk about their experiences and activism within the Church. Emily Holtel-Hoag of Future Church, Claudia Vercellotti and Tony Comes of SNAP, Kristine Ward of Voice of the Faithful, and Dan Thiel of United Parishes were all featured during a conference organized by United Parishes under a theme stating that “Together We Can.” The conference didn’t focus on the differences between these groups. Instead it emphasized the common ground we all share in love of our faith, and a sense of calling to speak up about matters of grave importance to the Church.
This conference was about uniting those of us called to accept that challenge so that we may continue to educate, organize, and empower ourselves to do the work that needs to be done in the days ahead. Topics ranging from parish closures, sexual abuse, priest shortages, and accountability were all raised and explored in great detail. According United Parishes, each of these issues stems from a need for a Church which can be trusted. That requires accountability and willingness from Church leadership to trust lay people with the ability to provide responsible stewardship.
United Parishes, Future Church, SNAP, and Voice of the Faithful all look forward
to future collaboration and organized efforts to reach out to Catholics who
wish to have a voice in these issues and others that will affect the Catholic
Church in the future. For more information, visit United Parishes website. Los
Angeles, CA: A $10 million settlement for seven victims
of clergy sexual abuse was reported in the New York Times on Oct. 27: “While
the amount per victim is large relative to payments made to settle sexual abuse
cases in other parts of the country, it is typical of the sums paid in California,
which has a taken a strong stance toward the Catholic Church in abuse cases.” Subscribers
can access the full
story.
Boston, MA: A Boston Globe editorial reported a little
rule-bending by Cardinal O’Malley but few are complaining: “THE ARCHDIOCESE
of Boston broke every rule in real estate sales this week when it voluntarily
halved a $2 million offer from a community group for the former Our Lady of
the Presentation elementary school in Brighton's Oak Square. It was a brilliant
lesson from Cardinal Sean O'Malley on how best to strengthen a community.” Read
more.
Louisville, KY: “The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville
has released its final accounting of more than four years of sexual-abuse related
litigation that rocked the church and cost it $29.7 million. Archbishop Kelly
said, ‘I would not use the expression “closing the books.” I'm hoping that
we have reached the victims. They are the primary concern in all of this. I
hope we've got them all, but if we haven't, the door is always open and we're
always anxious to help with counseling if we can.’" See the Courier
Journal.
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