New England Notes

Boston area Parish voice affiliates are gearing up for a plenary/conference in June. Five hundred of our most active Boston-area volunteers will be coming together to discuss: "Our Vision for the Archdiocese of Boston in 2005, And Action Steps to Make our Vision a Reality". A questionnaire has been distributed to each of our 45+ Boston-area affiliates to stimulate pre-conference discussions, and to determine the areas of most interest for the 10+ workshops at the conference.

Seating for this June 7 plenary/conference is very limited. Tickets are being allocated via our Boston-area affiliates. If you are from the Archdiocese of Boston and are seeking more information, please contact your local VOTF parish voice affiliate. More information about affiliates can be found on the VOTF website. If you are from the Boston area and would like to help with the conference, please contact Ann Carroll via voices_conference@votf.org for more information.

Boston VOTF Mass of Rededication and Reconsecration will be held Tuesday, May 20, 7 pm at St. Ignatius, Chestnut Hill, MA. Volunteer ministers will be needed and a strong turnout will help us all remember our mission to be a prayerful voice, attentive to the Spirit. Please watch the website for additional information under Prayerful Voice.

The Boston College Initiative, "The Church in the 21st Century," is offering a free subscription to a new publication, C21 Resources, that reprints articles and presentations on the current crisis and the path to renewal. The inaugural issue was published in April. There will be three issues annually through 2004. Visit the Boston College website at www.bc.edu/church21/subscribe.

Boston Area VOTF members are invited to join Natick Parish Voice at their Sunday Prayer Service after the 11:30 AM Mass. Since January, Natick Parish Voice has been conducting a prayer service immediately following the 11:30 AM Mass at St Patrick's Church in Natick, MA. We reverently pray the Rosary and request Mary's intercession for the intentions of VOTF and to be allowed to meet on our Church property. Please consider joining us on a Sunday in May either by attending the 11:30AM Mass and gather with us in the center pews toward the back of the church, or join us around 12:30 at the conclusion of Mass. Prayer sheets will be available. The service lasts about 15 minutes. St. Patrick's Church is on Rte. 135, (44 East Central St.), Natick, MA two blocks east of the intersection with Rte. 27.

Worcester VOTF will present Attorney Wendy Murphy on Wednesday, May 14, 2003 at 7 PM in Rehm Library, Smith Hall, at the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA. Wendy Murphy is a highly respected and tenacious advocate for victims of sexual abuse. Ms. Murphy was the lawyer who defended the right of the Rape Crisis Center in its refusal to turn over the transcripts of private counseling to an attorney for an accused rapist. This landmark case was carried all the way to the MA State Supreme Judicial Court, where it was decided that only the judge in each individual case need review such records for relevancy. Ms. Murphy is also a professor of law at Northeastern University and a legal commentator for Fox Channel News.

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