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Please send
comments and inquiries to pthorp.ed@votf.org.
"I prefer the monotony of obscure sacrifice to all ecstasies. To pick up a pin for love can convert a soul." St. Therese of Lisieux (1873-97) whose feast day is October 1.
In
this Issue:
NATIONAL
News:
The National Representative Council draft
agenda for their Nov. 10-12 meeting in St. Louis,
MO is at National
News Update in this issue. In
keeping with past practice, the Council meetings
are open to all registered VOTF members.
The National Representative Council and VOTF
officers have concurred on the following two resolutions;
these relate specifically to the Protect
Our Children initiative within the ongoing Campaign
for Accountability. Contact the closest
affiliate in your area to
get more involved.
It is the policy of VOTF to support the reform
of state and federal laws to strengthen the
protection of children from sexual abuse, afford
justice for survivors of child sexual abuse,
and hold accountable any abuser and any individual
or institution that aids or abets child sexual
abuse.
Prospectively,
VOTF supports legislation either to eliminate
civil statutes of limitations on
current or new child sexual abuse cases or to
extend the limitation to an age when most survivors
would be emotionally, psychologically, and financially
capable of filing a suit, such as age 50 or
older.
- VOTF
National has kicked off a series of Accountability
Campaign petition ads on various sites and blogs.
See page one of National
Catholic Reporter, Commonweal magazine and US
Catholic magazine.
- The
Representative Foley affair has drawn a number
of comparisons to the Church’s failures
in handling priests’ sexual abuse of children.
VOTF issued this
statement.
The
ongoing saga of mismanaged and stolen parish
funds continues to underscore the need for VOTF’s
Campaign for Accountability. See the Delray Beach, CA follow-up in DIOCESE/State
Watch and find out what you can do to
make a difference in your diocese by clicking
here; also,
see Letter
to the editor in this issue – a former
parish council member in Indiana finds that accountability
is also an attitude. VOTF
National will again be present for the bi-annual
USCCB meeting, to take place
Nov. 13-16 in Baltimore, MD. The bishops’ agenda includes approval of a reorganization plan
for their national conference; approval of
a revision
of the Lectionary for Mass for selected days
in the season of Advent, and a directory for
music and the liturgy for use in the dioceses
of the United States; approval of two documents
from their Doctrine Committee - a proposed
statement on receiving the sacrament of the
Eucharist
worthily, and proposed guidelines for ministry
to persons with a homosexual inclination;
and a document from the Pro-Life Committee
offering
pastoral guidance on the Church's teaching
concerning contraception, linked with a culture
of life.
The bishops will also elect a new Conference
Secretary and several committee chairmen. Read more.
VOTF will
not only have a table at the November 3-5 annual
CTA gathering in Milwaukee,
WI but will offer the ONLY FREE package of
seminars available on opening day; check out
the VOTF program being offered from 9 am to 2:45
pm on Friday, Nov. 3 under VOTF National
News Update.
As noted in the Oct. 5 Vineyard, VOTF
National has signed on to the FutureChurch call “Do
Not Stifle the Spirit: A Call to Preserve Vibrant
Parishes in a Time of Fewer Priests”. To read
the statement and sign on yourself, click
here.
VOTF
INTERNATIONAL Note: The Irish
Independent headlined on 10/14: “Pope to
grill bishops on sex abuse”; go to VOTF
Ireland’s website for more; while you’re
out of the country, visit VOTF Australia's website with
coverage throughout Australia and New Zealand.
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DIOCESE/State Watch: Note
in particular the broad and positive media coverage
of
the documentary
film “Deliver Us from Evil”; details are under the Los
Angeles, CA item in this section.
St.
Paul, MN – One family is
reaching out as far as it can to end child sex abuse.
Their effort is
being called a “long shot” case in which “178 Catholic
Bishops have been named as defendants in an unprecedented
civil child sex abuse lawsuit brought by the family
of a murdered Wisconsin man”; Palm Beach, FL – The
sad unraveling of US Representative Foley’s life has
focused attention not only on Foley’s statements about
sexual abuse he suffered as a child but on what SNAP’s
David Clohessy has called “among the most troubled dioceses” with
regard to the handling of sexual abuse claims–the Palm
Beach diocese where Foley lived nearly 40 years ago; Los
Angeles, CA – The furor over Cardinal Mahony’s alleged
protection of a fugitive priest has not abated (see
the Oct. 5 Vineyard) and has spread to Mexico; Delray
Beach, FL – The Palm Beach Post reports
a trinity of deception in a Delray Beach Catholic church; Iowa – joining
Portland, OR; Tucson, AZ; and Spokane, WA, the diocese
of Davenport, IO has filed for bankruptcy; Chicago,
IL – $96,000 later, a former seminary comptroller
pleaded guilty; Philadelphia, PA – The District
Attorney is supporting sex-abuse legislation despite
the “powerful lobbies” cries of “unfair!”
AFFILIATE
Highlights in KENTUCKY - VOTF Northern KY is reaching
out to ALL Catholics in their diocese – with a new blog;
VOTF Louisville, KY is hosting a tri-state VOTF gathering
on 10/28; also, Vince Grenough of VOTF Louisville Area
posts his thoughts on Philadelphia Cardinal Rigali’s
outreach to the survivor community.
An uncommon story: The Union
Leader, Manchester, NH,
reports: “A dozen Roman Catholic clergy are
reaching out to fellow priests who are sick,
retired or were stripped of their ministry for
sexually abusing minors, offering support and
financial aid to any who need it.”
SITE-Seeing, Etc.
Want to take a course at Boston College but
you live in Paris, Texas? It isn’t too late to register
for online courses with Boston College’s Church in the
21st Century program. For a demo course, more information,
and registration, go to the website or
call 617-552-8057.
Watch
the November issues of In the Vineyard for a review
of David Gibson’s new book The Rule of Benedict:
Pope Benedict XVI and His Battle with the Modern World and
an interview with David, an award-winning religion journalist
and committed lay Catholic. He has worked in Rome for
Vatican Radio, produced television documentaries and
writes frequently for the New York Times, Fortune,
Boston Magazine, Commonweal and America. Gibson
is a loyal supporter of VOTF and speaker at various
VOTF conferences and meetings.
On the side: Jason Berry, journalist and co-author
with Gerald Renner of Vows of Silence, longtime
advocate for survivors of clergy sexual abuse and the
work of Fr. Tom Doyle, and VOTF member and supporter,
has taken a leap into the world of fiction with a new
novel The Last of the Red Hot Poppas. Click
here for reviews and readings – Jason is
scheduled to be in the Boston area 10/30-31. The
Last of the Red Hot Poppas is also available at
www.amazon.com.
LETTER
to the editor: Accountability is about
more than money
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