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Please send
comments and inquiries to pthorp.ed@votf.org.
October
4 is the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, founder
of the Franciscan Order and patron saint of animals
and the environment. The VOTF Colorado affiliate
prayer to St. Francis is in this issue’s Commentary – A
Prayer for Our Time. To read St. Francis’ “The Canticle of the Sun” written
in the thirteenth century, go to click here
In
this Issue:
NATIONAL
News:
Meet
us in St. Louis? The National Representative Council
will meet in St. Louis, MO on Nov. 11-12 with
a full agenda. In keeping with past practice,
the Council meetings are open to all registered
VOTF members. This meeting will be the first convening
of newly approved Standing Committees; Mission,
Goals and National Impact; Membership Growth;
Affiliate Development; Budget; and Elections.
Some items on the agenda include ordering of priorities
for the Council, follow-up on the Accountability
Campaigns, and ongoing discussions, reports, etc.
See the next Vineyard (10/19) for the complete
agenda.
Planning for the VOTF 2007 Convention is
under way so SAVE THESE DATES: October
19-21 at the Rhode Island Convention Center, Providence,
RI.
The Campaign
for Accountability is
into its Fall Action Plans. See where you, your
parish
and/or your affiliate might fit in; and SIGN
the Petition for Accountability. See
Affiliate
Highlights for VOTF Long Island, NY’s
progress report on their Fall Campaign’s
legislative activity.
- Pope
Benedict XVI issued a statement on the praying
of the rosary. October is the month
the Church traditionally dedicates to the rosary
and the missions. Click
here. Inviting others to say
the rosary with meditations that focus on survivors
of
sexual abuse is among the suggested
VOTF Fall actions (PDF) in the Campaign
for Accountability.
The Financial Accountability Focus group
is taking a closer look at parish finances. The
sad stories of parish funds’ mismanagement and
theft underscores the need for vigilance in everyone’s
interest, including the priests accused.
- “A priest and former pillar of the Roman Catholic
Church in New York experienced an extraordinary
downfall yesterday as a judge sentenced him
to four years in prison for stealing tens of
thousands of dollars from his parish on the
affluent Upper East Side.” See the New
York Times, Sept. 23
- A pastor was charged with stealing
the “winnings” of
fake raffles. Read
more.
- According
to the Palm Beach Post, “Two
former priests at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic
Church in Delray Beach have been accused of
misappropriating $8.6 million from the church
during the past 40 years.” Read
more. and the Los
Angeles Times. The Miami Herald
reported that things may be worse than originally
understood. Read
more.
- Parish life is also the focus of an upcoming
(Oct. 14) Ohio conference. Speakers will include
representatives from VOTF, SNAP, Future Church
and United Parishes. For details, click
here. See some background details about
this conference from VOTF National Representative
Council member Kris Ward, who will be the VOTF
speaker at the conference (go to Affiliate
Highlights ).
The
British Broadcasting Company (BBC) recently
broadcast a segment “Sex Crimes and
the Vatican” that raised again the
existence and intent of what had been a
secret 1962 Church document Crimen Sollicitationis. Decades
later, a related 2001 Vatican document came
to light, “Letter Explains New Norms
for Vatican Handling of Certain Grave Offenses”.
Together the documents raised many questions
as to whether or not the Vatican had a standing
policy of secrecy when it was advised of
clergy sexual abuse. Fr. Tom Doyle’s observations and
significant links to original documents,
the BBC broadcast and recent media coverage
in the Commentary on Crimen Sollicitationis. |
SURVIVOR Community News -
VOTF member Casey Serra wrote an open letter to the
people of Connecticut
questioning the whereabouts of a priest credibly accused
of sexual abuse – read
his letter; also see VOTF Long
Island, NY’s recent outreach to survivors; and Fr. Sloun
(Sept. 21 Vineyard story) posted a letter on
his parish web site – it is reprinted here; the Baptist
Standard reports on a request from SNAP. Also, note dates
for special screenings of "Deliver Us From Evil" in
Boston, New York, Chicago and San Francisco.
Catholic University of America (Washington,
DC) panel discussion brought VOTF together with Opus
Dei, FADICA and other internationally recognized voices
in the Catholic Church. See Catholic
News Service. See
the full text of VOTF president
Mary Pat Fox’s address. 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, click
here.
VOTF has two new affiliates in Ohio. They are
St. James Affiliate, Kansas, Ohio and St. Thomas More
Affiliate, Bowling Green, Ohio. Both are in the Diocese
of Toledo. Both are welcomed warmly!
Protecting
Our Children is not limited to church/school
property. Casey Serra wrote an open letter to the people
of Connecticut with his concerns. See Survivor
Community News.
DIOCESE/State Watch
Boston, MA: It’s the law! Lt.
Gov. Kerry Healy signed into law legislation that
extends the statute
of limitations (SOL) for criminal prosecution of crimes
of rape and some crimes of sexual assault from 15 to
27 years. See the September 21 Vineyard for
Steve Krueger’s commentary on the how of this four-year
struggle and the lessons learned. Also visit
here; VOTF Portsmouth, VA applauds their
diocesan bishop for placing on the diocesan web site
an audited accounting statement; Iowa - all four
Roman Catholic bishops have been named in what is being
called a “long shot” lawsuit; Cardinal Roger Mahony
of Los Angeles and Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera
of Mexico City were named in a civil lawsuit claiming
obstruction of justice, negligence and conspiracy to
facilitate the flight of the priest and sexual battery;
Los Angeles is close to a $60 million settlement in
dozens of abuse cases; the Kentucky Court of
Appeals halted the release of abuse victims’ names; VOTF
Bridgeport, CT caught the attention of the Associated
Press for its commitment to financial responsibility
in the Church; AFFILIATE Highlights in Toledo,
OH where VOTF will host a “United Parish Conference” in
collaboration with FutureChurch, SNAP and United Parishes
and Long Island, VOTF shares a progress report on their
Fall Campaign for Accountability work.
Book
Notes: Gaile Pohlhaus offers a brief consideration
of Living Vatican II: The 21st Council for the 21st
Century by Gerald O’Collins, S.J.; VOTF Boston,
MA member Julie McConville reviews Double Crossed:
Uncovering the Catholic Church’s Betrayal of American
Nuns by Kenneth A. Briggs.
SITE-Seeing, Etc.
One of the most outspoken opponents of statutes of
limitations reforms is the Denver, Colorado archbishop
Charles Chaput. The October 9 issue of America magazine
published the archbishop’s response (“The False Promise
of ‘Window’ Legislation”) to the earlier commentary
by SOL reform supporter Marci Hamilton (Sept 25 issue
of America). Subscribers can access
the Oct. 9 article.
- Archbishop Chaput was in Harrisburg, PA this week.
Note the Philadelphia Inquirer commentary (“One
year on, no fix on abuse laws”) by Mariana Sorensen,
former Philadelphia prosecutor who worked on the investigation
of clergy sex abuse in the diocese. Click
here.
- VOTF secretary Gaile Pohlhaus
wrote a letter commenting on Archbishop Chaput’s assessment
of Marci Hamilton’s points in the Sept. 25 issue
of America. See Commentary – “Response
to Archbishop Chaput”.
- SNAP’s website home page has a short list of the
concerns around “windows” legislation and a response
to each of those concerns. Click
here.
Catholics
in Alliance for the Common Good is
pleased to announce the release of Voting for the
Common Good: A Practical Guide for Conscientious Catholics. The
guide is available at their website.
The September issue of U.S. Catholic looks at young
Catholics and what is keeping them from Sunday
Mass. The reasons are more complicated than many might
think. Read
more.
U.S. News and World Report asks, “What
did the House Republican leadership learn from the
priest pedophilia
scandal?” Read
more.
Don’t Miss: America, Sept
25, “Making
the House Ready for the Lord” – a new poem by Mary Oliver
QUOTE for our time: "Who is going
to save our Church? Not our bishops, not our priests
and religious.
It is up to you, the people. You have the minds, the
eyes, the ears to save the Church. Your mission is to
see that your priests act like priests, your bishops,
like bishops, and your religious act like religious." Archbishop
Fulton J. Sheen, before the Knights of Columbus, June
1972. |
