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VOICES, VOICES EVERYWHERE!

National Parish Voice has identified four U.S. regions for purposes of affiliate coordination, communication efforts and future regional definitions and representation:
WEST
Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Hawaii, Alaska
CENTRAL
North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio
SOUTH
Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida
EAST
Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, District of Columbia

VOTF "DOWN UNDER"

VOTF Travel
Reported by Kathy and Mark Mullaney

New Zealand: On June 15 and 29th, Kathy and Mark Mullaney, from St. John the Evangelist in Wellesley, Mass. and founding members of VOTF, met with interested VOTF affiliate programs in Christchurch, New Zealand and Sydney, Australia.

New Zealand is in a preliminary state in the process of meeting with VOTF members and discussing membership growth and possible affiliation.

Australia: On Sat June 28th and Sunday, June 29th, the Mullaneys spoke to over 500 parishioners at St. Anthony's in the Field outside of Sydney after three Masses. In addition, after the 10 a.m. Mass on Sunday, they delivered an address and responded to questions about VOTF in the states and its relationship to Church issues in Australia. They found an energized, aware, and informed group. Generally, there is concern about the future of the Church and genuine hope that it will survive and thrive. (Watch this space in August for more details about the New Zealand and Sydney efforts to organize.)

VOTF CENTRAL

VOTF SE Wisconsin
Reported by Terry Ryan

Greetings from Southeast Wisconsin! We celebrated the first anniversary of our affiliate on June 17, 2003 with a special liturgy of healing at St. Benedict the Moor Church that included liturgical dance and a communal blessing of those who've suffered from any form of abuse. We also collected money to offset some of the travel expenses for SNAP members who were planning to travel to St. Louis for their convention. Our Prayerful Voice coordinator Roberta Manley is to be thanked, as well as our presider Fr. John Lukaszewicz and homilist Rosemary Mutulo.

Following the liturgy Michael Crosby, OFMCap, gave a talk entitled "Reconciliation and VOTF: Is It Possible?" He spoke about the power dynamics that are deeply engrained in institutional structures, stemming from clericalism and patriarchy. Fr. Crosby provided a frank and honest assessment of the sin of systemic abuse and the difficulty of addressing the structural imbalance of power.

Although we do not plan to have a formal regional meeting during the month of July, we will remain engaged in promoting state legislation that will make clergy mandatory reporters of abuse, that will raise the statute of limitations for both civil and criminal cases, and that will hold supervisors accountable if they knew or should have known that someone under their supervision had sexual contact with a child.

Even though this bill will help prevent future sexual abuse of our children, it does nothing for past victim-survivors who have suffered greatly and deserve justice. We believe that the state and the Church are obligated to ensure accountability so that victim-survivors receive restorative justice. To that end, we've met with the Chancellor of the Milwaukee Archdiocese to discuss a proposal we drafted on restorative justice; and we will urge legislators to set up a statewide system to provide support, healing and justice to adults who were sexually abused as children.

Our Steering Committee will be busy during the month of July developing goals for the next year and meeting with individuals who are interested in assuming leadership positions. I've announced my intention to step down as Coordinator and am seeking someone to assume that role. As always, we keep all of you in our thoughts and prayers. May the God of compassion and new life continue to shower us with the blessing of one another's presence in this struggle to reform our Church.

VOTF Chicago, IL
Reported by Terry O'Connor

LOCAL NEWS in Chicago, Joliet and Rockford Dioceses:

  • VOICE OF THE FAITHFUL EXPANDS it's northern border in the Archdiocese of Chicago with a start up group at OUR LADY OF HUMILITY located in ZION, ILLINOIS.
  • DIALOGUE TEAM SELECTED FROM FOUR CORNERS OF THE CHICAGO DIOCESE. Representing the VOTF Laity in the Chicago Diocese will be three women and two men from each direction of the compass. Details to follow.
  • LAITY TAKES A MAJOR STEP IN THE ROCKFORD DIOCESE toward renewal with Bishop Thomas Doran and the announcement of a VOTF- Coordinator in the Rockford Diocese. Additional plans include Parish Affiliates in the regions of Aurora, Cary, Elgin, St Charles, Geneva, Sterling, and throughout the city of Rockford. If you know a friend or relative living in any of these areas who is interested in changing the way the Church acts during our lifetime, please have them visit the votf.org web site and contact any of us on the Illinois team.
  • THE JOLIET DIOCESE LEADS IN NEW INTEREST in Hinsdale at St. Isaac's with a top-down building project as if the crisis were over. "Building something seems to be a strategy for ignoring the elephant in our living room," stated one parishioner.
  • Strong interest from Elmhurst at Immaculate Conception Parish has also surfaced with volunteers working toward connecting parishes for a larger VOTF presence in the Joliet Diocese.
  • The Joliet Diocese is in need of a Regional Coordinator to effectively connect parishioners. The Elmhurst area is one and Joliet (the city) is the other location where individual members and Parish Affiliates could be assisted greatly with additional Region Coordinators. If you know a friend or relative from the diocese who might be interested, please have them contact any of us on the Illinois team.
  • THIS E-MAIL NETWORK CONNECTS TO OVER 125 DIFFERENT PARISHES and has just recently expanded to accept an additional 3,000 e-mail addresses in our local network. If you are interested in being a Regional Coordinator, Parish Affiliate or VOTF member we have an e-mail slot with your name on it. We could sure use your help.
  • Peace be with all of us.

VOTF EAST

VOTF Washington, DC Metro
Reported by Evelyn Mercantini and written by Bill Casey

Our Lady Queen of Peace Church in Arlington, VA and the DC Metro affiliate of VOTF hosted a Healing Mass on Thursday evening, June 19, at 7:30 p.m. at the church. Fr. Joe Nagle, Franciscan Mission Service, and Fr. Len Tuozzuolo, pastor of OLQP, con-celebrated the Mass. It was the first healing Mass celebrated in the Arlington Diocese devoted to survivors and others angered by the sexual abuse crisis within the Church and the lack of responsiveness by our Church leaders to the scandal. The hope that we share is that this service will set an example for other parishes in the diocese to reach out to their faith communities and not hide within the religious hierarchy. It is likely that some survivors of abuse, regardless of where the abuse occurred, may now live in the Arlington area.

In addition to the host community at OLQP, representatives from SNAP and three other DC- area VOTF affiliates were in attendance. The congregation of approximately 150 listened to the strong words from Frs. Joe and Len as well as the scripture readings and homilies. They called on clergy to face their responsibilities to the survivors. Evelyn Mercantini related the commitment of the DC Metro VOTF affiliate to support the survivors and continue efforts to promote the healing process. In a symbol of communal healing, the group walked in single file to the altar, dipped a finger in a bowl of water, crossed themselves and then turned to make a small cross on the forehead of the person behind them.

After the Mass, a reception was held to afford an opportunity to share fellowship and upcoming VOTF/SNAP activities. In all, this gathering was a wonderful witness to the Gospel message, one in sharp contrast to the public witness within our Church this week - the resignation of the chairman of the National Review Board appointed only a year ago to oversee the Bishops' implementation of the charter to protect children from abuse, and the Bishops' semiannual meeting in St. Louis, in which the sexual abuse issue was not even on the original agenda until yet another kind of episcopal scandal broke on Monday.

The Healing Mass was covered by the Washington Post. It can be accessed at www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles.

VOTF Greater Philadelphia, PA
Reported by Marianna Sullivan

A quorum of members-in-good-standing of Voice of the Faithful of Greater Philadelphia adopted proposed by-laws for the affiliate, approved incorporation as a nonprofit organization and elected temporary officers who will serve until January 2004 at the affiliate's June general meeting on June 3.

The temporary officers are Bud Bretschneider, chair; Mary Ellen Norpel, vice chair; Walter Fox, vice chair for media relations; Brenda Hackett, treasurer; Susan Palladino, recording secretary, and Loretta Connor, corresponding secretary.

At-large delegates to the VOTF/GP Steering Committee are Eileen DiFranco, Alice O'Neill, James Plastaras, Joan Smith and Marianna Sullivan. In addition, representatives of the various committees form part of the steering committee; these committees include one for each of VOTF's three goals.

At the October general meeting of the Greater Philadelphia affiliate, permanent officers will be elected to serve terms beginning in January 2004.

Now that organizational matters have been addressed, we hope to move ahead to parish outreach throughout the archdiocese.

VOTF Northern New Jersey
Reported by Maria Cleary

In June, we were treated to a wonderful talk by Dr. Gloria Thomas of Marymount College in NYC who spoke about "The Trinity: A Model for Dialogue in the Church." Intriguing and inspiring! Another highlight of that meeting was the emergence of more brave souls who are willing to start new VOTF Affiliates, even in banned territory! Recent news about Frank Keating and Bishop O'Brien in Phoenix seems to have galvanized folks in a new way.

The biggest news for our region is the upcoming conference at Fordham University, New York, NY on November 15. Twenty-six of us from NY, NJ and CT affiliates met on June 14 on site to plan. Things are coming together in a very exciting way, and we should be able to announce speakers and topics shortly, so stay tuned. This is a very convenient location, so we hope many of our VOTF family will be able to join us for this important day. Mark the date on your calendars!

VOTF West Hartford, CT
Reported by Dick Wowak

At the June meeting we began a push to re-energize the three working groups and to get EVERYONE involved in a working group of some sort. We expanded the groups to eight in number including PR, Finances, etc. We will follow up until all are involved.

Fr. Cody gave a report on the Hartford Assoc of Priests, our counterpart in the Clergy. He gave us their goals and results from their meetings with Archbishop Cronin - none as of now.

Jaye O'Donnel reported on the meeting with the Archbishop that she attended with John Ryan and Mary Ann Murray. They had four questions 1) Functioning Parish Councils, 2) Follow up to the Synod of 5 yrs ago, 3) Copy of the Bishops Charter, 4) Safe Parish Provisions. All went pretty much unanswered. Our next meeting is July 10 at St. Tim's.

VOTF South Region, Boston, MA Affiliate
Reported by John Hynes

Click here to view photos

The evening of Tuesday, June 24 saw representatives of nearly all of the VOTF affiliates in the South Region of the RCAB attending Mass at St. Gerard Majella Parish in Canton, MA. The celebrant of this Mass of the feast of St. John the Baptist was the Reverend Bernard P. McLaughlin, pastor of St. Gerard's. In the beginning of his remarks, Fr. Mac held out St. John the Baptist, the herald of Christ, as an example for all to emulate. Fr. Mac then invited all resent to participate with him in what amounted to an interactive homily. Many accepted his invitation almost immediately - resulting in a palpable sense of connectedness that dominated the evening. Mass was Followed by refreshments and brief updates from various affiliates before the final regional meeting of the season adjourned.

Many of the same VOTF representatives were in attendance again on Sunday morning, June 29 at St. Paul's in Hingham, MA. There the principal celebrant of the Mass of the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul was Bishop Lennon, interim administrator of the Boston Archdiocese. Some who spoke with Bishop Lennon appealed to him either on behalf of the survivors and/or on behalf of VOTF groups banned from meeting on their own church property. Both before and after the service VOTFers stood in solidarity with the survivor representatives who were present outside of St. Paul's.

Bishop Lennon's homily seemed somehow disconnected and stood in sharp contrast to Fr. Mac's. Bishop Lennon talked about the leaders of the early Church whose feast day it was. He pointed out that even though Sts. Peter and Paul were the recognized leaders of the Church of their day, they were not focused on their role as leaders, but rather on their mission of attracting people to the word of God. Bishop Lennon seemed totally oblivious to the irony that his, and his predecessor's, actions might have actually served to separate people from the word of God.

VOTF Fall River, MA diocese
Reported by Chris Boyd

  • News from around the diocese: In July, Svea Fraser from VOTF National spoke to a crowd in Falmouth on the subject of support for priests. About two weeks prior, in Mashpee, David O'Brien, professor at the College of the Holy Cross, with expertise in the history of the Catholic Church in America, offered great insights into the current challenges before the Church and the laity to about 100 attendees.
  • I'm told by Lloyd Becket (papa@alum.mit.edu) of North Falmouth Parish Voice, and Jim Moroney (BMor456556@aol.com) of Mashpee Parish Voice that these two affiliate groups have decided to retain their independent local affiliations, while developing closer coordination so as to draw on each other's membership for mutual support of various events.
  • Among the successes achieved by Fall River VOTF is that of Ed Scahill of Mashpee, who in communication with his pastor has been informed that the pastor will "publish a full and complete accounting of the past fiscal year's financial report." Good news for our goals of "transparency and accountability."
  • Lower Cape Parish Voice continues to build bridges within their community. Offering an educational video series by Fr. Michael Himes of B.C. entitled, "The Vision of Vatican II for Today," St. Joan of Arc parish will be inviting parishioners to enjoy this series on Mondays July 7, 14, 21, 28 and August 4 at 7:00 p.m. LCPV will resume meetings at the Brewster's Lady's Library soon after the conclusion of the video series. For information, contact Patricia Clock (patriciacape@attbi.com) or Nick Armenti (NPArmenti@yahoo.com).
  • Nantucket's PV has been disrupted by the ban from meeting on parish property, but Sue Alex (madaket62@aol.com) is planning a new meeting this month.
  • Developing groups are also making progress. The South Coast Parish Voice group is growing in and around Mattapoisett and plans to affiliate in September. A small coordinating group has been meeting in recent weeks. They expect to have their first big meeting to welcome all in early September. For information, contact Bob Gormley (rgormley@bestweb.net) or Ann Bruno (wsbamb@aol.com). On June 26th, the group welcomed Helene and Bill Doyle, from Falmouth, to share how their group developed and what challenges may lie ahead. Bill and Helene have also spoken with other fledgling groups including the Mid-Cape. Marion Gallagher (marjack@attbi.com) and George Perkins (perkinsgm@attbi.com) have been the most active here. Anyone in the Dennis-Yarmouth and surrounding towns who could offer support or would like to attend, let Marion and George know. Without access to parish bulletins, it's hard to get the word out. As yet, we have many members around the western part of the diocese, but no new parish voices, so members from Attleboro to Easton, Norton to Taunton, send Chris Boyd (JCBoydVOTF@aol.com) an email if you'd like to reach others in your area.

By way of a diocesan overview, the Bishop-elect Coleman of Fall River has instructed all pastors to ban meetings of VOTF on Church property until further notice. Parish bulletins are not to include VOTF PV notices, and there is to be no formal contact with our organization. These policies are deemed temporary until the new bishop has time to assess the situation more fully at some future date. These policies are a concern to many member parishioners. In an effort to avoid an escalated exchange in the media, as is the general desire of leadership from within the diocese, as well as in order to attempt to begin constructive communications and cooperation with our new bishop, we have attempted to engage the bishop-elect through an intermediary. What will be the fruit of these efforts remains to be seen, but we are hopeful. One month has passed since the original communication in this effort. Although the bishop-elect is no doubt busy with matters relating to his installation, we are hopeful that the interests of the hundreds of VOTF members under his pastoral care will also be a priority. In the meantime, VOTF members have avoided making a public issue of our expulsion from parish premises and have sent a warm letter of congratulations to Bishop-elect Coleman. We are beginning preparations for our delegation to meet with the Bishop or his representative(s) in the coming months.

Winchester, Mass. Area VOTF
Reported by Bob Morris

In June, we welcomed two speakers. On June 2, Patricia DeLeeuw, an Associate Academic Vice President for Faculties at Boston College, and a Church historian, brought home to us that most of the Church structures that we take for granted have evolved and changed over time. On June 16, Professor David O'Brien, Director of the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture at the College of the Holy Cross, presented an overview of the Church crisis, and a model for where we all might go from here. Approximately 100 persons attended each talk.

In June, several members of our group - Mary Ellen Falcione, Anna-Marie Ferraro, Clare Keane, Bob Morris, and Helen Quinn - were elected by parishioners to the St. Eulalia's Parish Council (the Parish which hosts our meetings). These members join several other VOTF members (Eva Arnott, Mary Deyst, Christina Hurley) already on the Council.

On June 23, Suzy Nauman, Parish Voice Assistant Chair, and a member of our group, reported on the conference of the U.S. Bishops in St. Louis, as well as the conference of the Survivors' Network of those Abuse by Priests (S.N.A.P.). Suzy was part of the VOTF team attending both conferences. Suzy described for us the stark contrast between the indifference shown to VOTF by many bishops, and the gratitude to VOTF by those attending the S.N.A.P. conference. Suzy's account made clear that the work of VOTF in support of survivors is vital and must be continued.

Finally, at our meeting on June 30, on the eve of the appointment of Bishop O'Malley, we received an unexpected and most welcome visit from Father Hugh Burns, a Dominican priest from Jersey City, New Jersey, and a commentator on National Public Radio. In brief remarks, Father Hugh exhorted us to continue our work.

 

 

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In the Vineyard
July 2003
Volume 2, Issue 8

Page One

Survivor Support News

Survivor Voices

Working Groups Report

Parish Voice News

Books for your Short List

Events, Opportunities & News

Letters to the Editor

Commentary

Request a Copy of Annual Report

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