Press Releases
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Re-Membering the Catholic Church
BOSTON, Mass., Apr. 13, 2021 – Voice of the Faithful’s 2021 Conference Re–Membering the Church: Moving Forward will look closely at the body of the Church to see how structure, power, participation, and accountability can be brought together within the Church to fulfill its mission of bringing Christ to the world. The online Zoom conference…
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Despite financial stress, many, but not all, U.S. dioceses post audited financial reports
BOSTON, Mass., Nov. 13, 2020―Despite financial stress from the COVID-19 pandemic and clergy sexual abuse settlements, the number of dioceses posting audited financial reports to their websites rose 5% in the past year, according to Voice of the Faithful’s 2020 study of U.S. Catholic dioceses’ online financial transparency. However, 43 dioceses posted no financial information…
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Voice of the Faithful Statement on Release of Vatican’s McCarrick Report, Nov. 10, 2020
Voice of the Faithful has long called for holding bishops accountable when they have covered up clergy sexual abuse or, as in the case of disgraced former cardinal Theodore McCarrick, were themselves guilty of using their positions of power to abuse minors and vulnerable adults. The Vatican today released its long-awaited report into McCarrick’s case.…
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Restitution to be set aside for clergy abuse survivors a fraction of misused funds
BOSTON, Mass., Aug. 24, 2020 – Disgraced former bishop Rev. Michael Bransfield will pay only half the restitution his successor Bishop Mark Brennan approved last November, according to Brennan’s Aug. 20 letter, issued just days after Bransfield’s apology to Catholics of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, which sounded more like a confession that sins had been committed,…
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Boston College theologian Richard Lennan returns as speaker for 2020 Voice of the Faithful Conference
BOSTON, Mass., Jul. 13, 2020 – Voice of the Faithful is welcoming back Boston College theology professor Fr. Richard Lennan as a speaker at its 2020 Conference: Visions of a Just Church, a virtual Zoom gathering that takes place Oct. 3. VOTF members and others will meet to promote their visions of a just Church…
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Latest USCCB abuse audit report shows cover-up’s extent, 4,400 new allegations last year
BOSTON, Mass., Jun. 26, 2020 – The numbers tell the story. According to the USCCB’s 2020 Report on the Implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, more than 4,400 allegations of Catholic clergy sexual abuse were reported over the single year ending Jun. 30, 2020, the period of the report,…
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Voice of the Faithful 2020 Conference will be an online Zoom event
BOSTON, Mass., Jun. 12, 2020 – The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has affected Voice of the Faithful similarly to other organizations planning to hold events during 2020. Out of an abundance of caution and concern for the well-being of our members and supporters, Voice of the Faithful will present on online Zoom conference for 2020. The…
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Eighteen years later, concerned Catholics still addressing clergy abuse
BOSTON, Mass., Mar. 3, 2020 – Eighteen years after The Boston Globe brought to light widespread clergy abuse in the Archdiocese of Boston and after a Pennsylvania grand jury investigation found credibly accused priests throughout the state just two years ago, Voice of the Faithful, founded within weeks of the Globe’s revelations, continues to address…
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Pope jettisons pontifical secret; Voice of the Faithful applauds
BOSTON, Mass., Dec. 18, 2019 – Pope Francis yesterday changed the Catholic Church’s Canon Law to abrogate the “pontifical secret,” the Vatican’s equivalent of “top secret,” with regard to clergy sexual abuse cases. Voice of the Faithful joins clergy abuse victims and survivors and their advocates in considering this reform long-overdue. Voice of the Faithful…
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Voice of the Faithful members gather for 2019 Conference: Creating a Just Church
BOSTON, Mass., Oct. 3, 2019 – The present crisis in the life of the Catholic Church, which has been called the biggest “since the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century,” is drawing members of the Church reform group Voice of the Faithful together in the Boston area for their 2019 Conference: Creating a Just Church. Founded in 2002 during heightened…