| "Hope
has two lovely daughters: anger and courage. Anger at
what's wrong; courage to set
it right." St.
Augustine’s adage as quoted by Richard Taylor in this
issue’s Book Review
This issue of In the Vineyard begins our fourth
year of e-gathering and using our voices on behalf of
our Church. Our Vineyard archives hold 1000 pages
of your words and your work; published monthly since
October 2002, this newsletter is now a bi-monthly. Thank
you for keeping up this vital conversation! We look forward
with ever-increasing hope to continuing what we started
in 2002.
VOTF at Work in the World
Ireland’s Ferns Inquiry report stuns
many – An
eerie uniformity prevails in the recently released text
of the first Irish government inquiry into clergy sexual
abuse of children. Remove the place names surrounding
events in the Diocese of Ferns and one could be reading
about any American Catholic scenario of sexual abuse
by clergy and corrective efforts that fall well short
of genuine concern for children.
- The
VOTF web
site has links to the Executive Summary,
as well as the full report; also on the VOTF web
site, VOTF Ireland coordinator Sean O’Conaill explains
the history of Ireland’s Stewardship Trust. “Although
it was set up in 1996, most Catholics were unaware
of the Stewardship Trust fund until 2003. In Feb
2003 the Irish Times reported that most Catholic
dioceses in Ireland had taken out insurance in 1987
against liability for clerical child sexual abuse,
and that the Stewardship Trust fund had emerged out
of the collapse of that insurance cover in 1996.”
Making
the case for vigilance: An astounding
chronology of events about a Worcester, MA priest is
finally publicized.
Thanks are due VOTF Worcester’s Daniel Dick, who has
been doggedly pursuing the story of a Worcester diocese
priest apprehended for alleged lewd conduct while in
Las Vegas a year ago. All relevant data have finally
made it to the public eye – and Bishop McManus. See Vigilance
at Work
- SNAP is pulling out all the stops in Ohio as Senate
Bill 17 approaches a hearing on November 10. Their
work is a model for affiliates everywhere. See Vigilance
At Work
Score
1 for Chicago Archdiocese – NRC rep from
Region 13 Frank Douglas points to the Archdiocese of
Chicago for a positive step toward financial accountability.
The Archdiocese has established a financial misconduct
hotline administered by a third party. For details, go
to Archdiocese web
site. Witness
in Washington – Both the USCCB
and VOTF National will
be present in and around Washington, DC this month. The VOTF
National Representative Council (do you know who
your representative is? Click here.) will be holding
their second meeting (after hundreds of e-hours since
their last meeting in July); and VOTF’s executive director
Ray Joyce and interim communications manager John Moynihan
will be available alongside VOTF regional representatives,
SNAP and others for witness at the USCCB annual Fall
meeting Nov. 14-17. See what to expect under VOTF
Witness in Washington, DC.
- Bishops to consider lay ecclesial
roles (that’s most
of VOTF, according to the recently released VOTF Study)
during November meeting. Read
more.
- For an overview of the meeting’s agenda, click
here.
 The
October 23 presentation by the Boston College Church
in the 21st Century Center, “Voice of the Faithful:
Findings from a Study of a Social Movement within the
Catholic Church,” drew 400 attendees to a four-hour
symposium with three pairs of academic analysts from
four colleges and universities, as well as the research
team of Drs. D’Antonio and Pogorelc.
Let
us know what you think at pthorp.ed@votf.org
VOTF national officer elections to
be held in late winter. See Report
from VOTF Board of Trustees.
VOTF
continues to “go out
from here,” as
Christ asked of His followers. (Please note
that many of the online publications require
registering
before
viewing the articles mentioned.)
- Update
from Ohio on Senate Bill 17 in Affiliate Updates;
also, SNAP is promoting a November 9 event sponsored
by the Ohio Coalition on Sexual
Assault, SNAP and VOTF in support of SB 17 (see Vigilance
at Work). Meanwhile, all six area dioceses are lobbying
against its passage.
- A
public forum was organized in Philadelphia to address
concerns and actions around a grand jury’s
scathing conclusions about the Philadelphia archdiocese’s
handling of sexual abusers – go to www.votfgp.org for
coverage. In addition: The Philladelphia
Daily News (subscription required) and The
PhillyBurbs.com offer additional coverage.
- In
the 10/28
issue of NCR, Maureen Paul Turlish,
a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur and a member of Voice
of the Faithful, wrote of the crisis of confidence
in the Philadelphia archdiocese. Also, read, “Philadelphia
District Attorney
Lynne Abraham has responded to attacks on her
credibility by calling on the Philadelphia archdiocese
to release 45,000 pages of secret church records
that document sexual abuse of hundreds of children.”
- Boston parishioners
continue to develop and act on steps to address the
forced resignation of their pastor – go to Ourladysfriends.org;
Abp. O’Malley promises
transparency and full disclosure of diocesan finances;
Remember the RCAB Parish Reconfiguration Oversight
Fund? VOTF Board of Trustees Chair David Castaldi,
appointed by Archbishop O’Malley to direct
this effort, provides an update. See RCAB News.
- Whose
church is this, anyway? The “jury is out” in
Oregon. Read
more.
- Archdiocese
of Hartford, CT will pay $22 million
in abuse case settlement. Click
here.
Los Angeles: From a National
Catholic Reporter (NCR) editorial: “With
the release Oct. 12 of a 155-page report describing
decades of sexual abuse by clergy in the Los Angeles
archdiocese, there now exists compelling and preponderant
evidence that at least three living cardinals of
the Catholic church in the United States have been
complicit in what any reasonable observer would term
criminal activity.”
Survivor Support: Get a jump start
on your Christmas Cards AND support survivors. VOTF Winchester
Area is back with VOTF Christmas cards, designed by their
own members. All proceeds benefit abuse survivors. You
can view the cards, and print out an order form by visiting
their web
site. For more information, contact Bob
Morris at rmorrisvotf@aol.com.
- Prolific author of books and articles,
the one-time Roman Catholic priest A. W. Richard
Sipe has important
reading for survivors, their families and friends,
and all who support the survivor community. Read “UNSPEAKABLE
DAMAGE, The Effects of Clergy Sexual Abuse” at
www.richardsipe.com.
BOOK Watch:
Interview with VOTF Phila. member Richard Taylor,
author of a forthcoming book Love in Action.
Dick’s book is available in manuscript form for
$10 sent with your mailing address to Richard Taylor,
609 East Allens La., Phila., PA 19119. Dick is distributing
his text in this way to get feedback prior to seeking
a publisher in 2006.
Review of The
Priesthood of the Faithful – Key
to a Living Church by Fr. Paul J. Philibert. If
there is such a thing as a “feel good” book
at this time of crisis in our Church, Fr. Philibert
has written it.
Site-Seeing – This
sentence jumped off the page when visiting a new find
by VOTF member
Sr. Betsy Conway – “Staying with powerlessness
in the face of societal or ecclesial impasse is not an
easy task. Our Western minds want to move toward fixing
it; getting the strategy right; bringing closure to the
problem as quickly as possible. But engaging impasse
invites us to stay with it.” Engaging impasse? Click
here.
Letters to the Editor: We
could fill at least a dozen pages with letters of support,
prayer
and gratitude from correspondents on the priests’ messages
published in the last issue of In the Vineyard. We include
only a few with thanks to all. Please send your comments
and/or inquiries to pthorp.ed@votf.org.
QUOTE for our time: “The faith is strong in the
ranks of the priests and parishioners in our Church;
a serious problem continues in its upper echelons.” Msgr.
Harry J. Byrne, Bronx, NY, commenting in a letter to
the editor following the release of Los Angeles documents
on clergy sexual abuse in that diocese.
NEXT issue of In
the Vineyard: November 17.
|
