Press Releases
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VOTF National Statement — Young Girls Again Are Prohibited from Serving Mass
NEWTON, Mass., Nov. 23, 2011 – Young girls have been prohibited from serving Mass by the pastor of Corpus Christi Roman Catholic Church in the Diocese of Arlington, Va. In 2006, even as he relinquished a long-standing practice that excluded girls from altar service, Arlington Bishop Paul Loverde authorized diocesan priests to continue to exclude…
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VOTF National Statement — Nothing Has Changed at Vatican as Cardinal Law Leaves Basilica Post
NEWTON, Mass., Nov. 21, 2011 – Nothing in the Vatican’s response to clergy sexual abuse has changed with the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law from his post as archpriest of St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome, according to Voice of the Faithful, the worldwide Catholic Church reform movement. At the epicenter of the clergy sexual…
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News Release — Church Reform Group Identifies Serious Flaw in Bishops’ Clerical Abuse Report
NEWTON, Mass., Nov. 3, 2011 – A serious flaw exists in the John Jay College report on the causes and context of the Catholic Church’s worldwide sexual abuse scandal, according to the worldwide Church reform group Voice of the Faithful. The report was made public earlier this year, and the VOTF board of trustees recently…
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Voice of the Faithful National Statement — Finally Accountability for a Bishop
NEWTON, Mass., Oct. 14, 2011 – Bishop Robert Finn and the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese were indicted today by a Jackson County, Missouri, grand jury for failing to report child abuse, the first time a Catholic bishop has been indicted on such a charge since clergy sexual abuse of children was first made widely known…
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Voice of the Faithful National Statement — Reform Movement Says Voices Heard with Rigali Resignation
NEWTON, Mass., July 20, 2011 — Cardinal Justin Rigali’s resignation as archbishop of Philadelphia shows clearly that the Vatican is beginning to hear faithful Catholic voices, according to reform group Voice of the Faithful. Pope Benedict XVI accepted Rigali’s resignation letter yesterday, July 19, submitted as required last year when he turned 75, several months…
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News Release – More Catholic Clergy Sex Crimes & Cover-ups Detailed in Ireland Cloyne Report
NEWTON, Mass., July 13, 2011 – Clearly Catholic bishops still do not understand how their actions put children at risk, said Dan Bartley, president of the worldwide Catholic Church reform group Voice of the Faithful, as Ireland’s government today released the Cloyne Report on Catholic clergy sexual abuse. The report details Cloyne diocesan clergy sexual…
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News Release — U.S. Bishops Must Hold Each Other Accountable, Roman Catholic Reform Group Says
NEWTON, Mass., June 29, 2011 – U.S. bishops must finally institute strong measures of fraternal correction when bishops fail to follow their own Charter for the Protection of Children and Young people after clergy are accused of child sexual abuse, according the Roman Catholic Church reform and abuse survivor support group Voice of the Faithful.…
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News Release — U.S. Bishops Meeting in Seattle Fail to Address Fundamental Flaws in Charter to Protect Children
NEWTON, Mass., June 17, 2011 – United States bishops failed to address fundamental flaws in their Charter to Protect Children and Young People during their spring meeting in Seattle, Wash., earlier this week, according to Dan Bartley, president of Voice of the Faithful, the worldwide Catholic Church reform organization. The bishops did not address the…
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Fund Benefiting Women in the Catholic Church Awards $10,000 to Wisconsin Woman Fired as Pastoral Associate
NEWTON, Mass., May 12, 2011 – A Wisconsin woman fired for no apparent cause from her parish position has been awarded $10,000 in the third round of grants from the Voice of the Faithful’s Emily & Rosemary Fund for Women in the Church. These grants support women who have lost employment in the Catholic Church…
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Callard Named Voice of the Faithful Development Coordinator
NEWTON, Mass., May 6, 2011 – Sara Callard of Quincy has been named development coordinator for Voice of the Faithful, the 35,000-strong worldwide organization of Roman Catholics working to support survivors of clergy sexual abuse, support priests of integrity and reform governance and guidance of the Church to include a greater voice for non-ordained faithful.…