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WORKING GROUPS REPORT

VOTF Protecting Our Children

Since May, our core group has met on Tuesday evenings, at the same time and place as other VOTF Working Groups. Early on, we planned the presentations and handouts for our session at the July 20th VOTF Convention. Our speakers, Jetta Bernier and Tim Nichols, provided leads to the functions on which we now focus. These are as follows: finding and helping to establish child sexual abuse prevention programs; sharing with Parish Religious Education Programs, with parents and with other caregivers, the resources, including speakers, that we have researched and that have been recommended to us. Over these months, we have e-mailed notes on our meetings to convention participants who asked to be kept informed.

The VOTF Board of Trustees unanimously accepted (9/16) our proposal to join a group of state and private agencies, the Massachusetts Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Partnership (MCSAPP), with the focus on abuse prevention. Early in December, our two delegates met with other members of the MCSAPP to discuss the nature of the Partnership, the membership, media relations and plans for a statewide conference. The two-day conference, scheduled for early in the spring, will involve parents, teachers and other professionals working with children. We will be responsible for the logistics of the conference and will be looking for VOTF colleagues to join us, working on and attending this important gathering.

At our most recent meeting, we shared with a representative of the Structural Change Working Group our frustration at the Archdiocese's delay (since 10/7/02) in responding to the report of the Commission for the Protection of Children of the Archdiocese of Boston. We agreed that the Commission's recommendations should be approved and implemented immediately.

Our mission statement and goals appear on the Protecting Our Children link of the VOTF website. Our e-mail is votfprotect@yahoo.com.

In the Vineyard
Table of Contents

Page One

From the Executive Director

Working Groups

Voices, Voices Everywhere!

 

In the News

 

In Brief

  • Linkup asks for VOTF's support for their Annual Healing Conference for survivors.

  • Please join the Paulist Center Community as they honor the recipient of the 2003 Isaac Hecker Award for Social Justice, Thomas P. Doyle, O.P. Canon Lawyer, Chaplain. More information

  • Jesuit Theologian Bill Clark to Speak in Maine Parishes on "The Role of the Laity in Today's Church" Fr. Clark to Speak in Saco on Jan. 22 & Calais on Feb. 2. More information

  • Jayne MacDonald, Chair of Membership and Recruitment, reports a suggestion from member Bill Sheehan. Bill proposes that every VOTF member identify ten contacts - friends, colleagues, extended family - and ask them personally to visit the VOTF website at www.votf.org. Bill believes it is bound to grow our numbers, an imperative of future success.
  • Please note Jim Post's speaking schedule in the event you are in the area he is visiting and the meeting is open to the public. Jim would certainly value the support and the opportunity to meet fellow VOTFers.

  • Remarks by Steve Krueger at Feast of the Epiphany Memorial Vigil.

  • Print out the entire In the Vineyard newsletter to read at your leisure or distribute to friends who don't have internet.

  • Your donations to VOTF help us maintain our website, assist new affiliates, and provide regular communication to members and the media. You can donate online or mail a donation to us at PO Box 423, Newton, MA 02464. Thanks for your generosity, which has been tremendous.

Please forward submissions to In the Vineyard to leaderpub@votf.org.

 

 

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In the Vineyard
January 2003
Vol 2, Issue 1

Page One

From the Executive Director

Working Groups

Voices, Voices Everywhere!

Current VOTF members, please re-register as part of our database update. New members, please register.


Voice of the Faithful is recognized as one of the most promising lay organizations to evolve in the Catholic Church. Your support is absolutely necessary for us to continue. The online donation form and the mail in donation form are both quick and easy ways for you to participate, and we are most grateful.

VOTF™
Mission Statement

To provide a prayerful voice, attentive to the Spirit, through which the Faithful can actively participate in the governance and guidance of the Catholic Church.

Purple Cross

Our Goals

1. To support those who have been abused

2. To support priests of integrity

3. To shape structural change within Church
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Pray Each Day
at Noon

Jesus, Lord and Brother, help us with our faithfulness. Please hear our voice, and let our voice be heard. Amen. More

 

         

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