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Please send
comments and inquiries to pthorp.ed@votf.org.
"When
every bishop in every diocese cooperates in bringing
about a genuinely just resolution of every charge
of sexual abuse, I believe we will once more be perceived
as credible moral teachers. Thus, what is good for
the victims will likewise be good for the Church.” Bishop
Thomas Gumbleton
In
this Issue:
VOTF
National News Update: Meet
our newly expanded Board of Trustees; and NRC
has newly elected representatives in Regions 7
(IL, IN, WI) and 4 (DC, DE, MD, VA). Also, note:
- Our Campaign
for Accountability Fall Action plans
are coming together with a menu of choices
for affiliates that includes gathering signatures
for our upcoming accountability petition; conducting
a forum with local politicians about the reform
of sexual abuse laws in collaboration with other
child advocacy groups; holding a state-of-the-diocese
meeting with a report card rating the bishop’s
progress; and a rosary invitation with meditations
that focus on survivors. The petition and rosary
meditation will soon be available on the national
web site. We also encourage you to get more
involved with these campaign action plans by
contacting your local
affiliate.
- VOTF
president Mary Pat Fox will join a panel including
Frank Butler of
FADICA, Russell Shaw
from Opus Dei and others at Catholic University,
Washington, DC during a two-day conference “The
Catholic Church in America” Sept. 20-21. For
details, click
here. Religious
News Service also noted the conference.
Diocese/State Watch: Documents
that were “lost” are
now “found” in Burlington, VT abuse case;
another loss for Bridgeport, CT as a much-loved
priest leaves the priesthood after helping to
uncover the truth behind an embezzling pastor
in Darien, CT; VOTF Long Island has sent a letter
to all the priests in their Rockville Center,
NY diocese – advancing their case for a representative finance
council. The affiliate’s petition for such a council
has 7000 signatures; Santa Rosa, CA Bishop
Daniel Walsh may be facing criminal charges in
the handling of an admitted abuser priest who
fled the state during a delay by the archdiocese
in reporting him to civil authorities; the Milwaukee,
WI archdiocese has agreed to settle sexual
abuse claims that involved 10 victims in California
and a priest the archdiocese had transferred there;
in San Diego, CA, attorneys for the Roman
Catholic Diocese of San Diego have asked a judge
to order those claiming sexual abuse by clergy
to reveal their identities in public court documents; VOTF
Affiliate highlight: VOTF affiliates have
found countless ways over the past nearly five
years to support our priests – VOTF Winona, MN
has added another. The affiliate organized a gathering
of all present and past parish pastors; and two
more priests, one in Florida and the other in
Massachusetts, receive deserved appreciation from
parishioners and friends. See “Acknowledging
Our Pastors”; please let us know about your own pastor’s
good work. Write to pthorp.ed@votf.org.
Survivor Community News: Sue
Archibald, for four years the director of the
Healing Alliance,
announced “The time has come for me to pass the
torch to a new leader.” Read
Sue’s farewell letter and meet the new executive
director Jonia Mariechild.
- The
need for Statutes of Limitations reforms on
the sexual abuse of children is
glaring,
again, this time in Wisconsin. The Milwaukee
Channel News reported: “A state appeals court
ruling on Tuesday said that four alleged victims
of decades-old sexual abuse by Milwaukee priests
can't sue the archdiocese because the statute
of limitations has expired.” Read
more. But the archdiocese settled other
cases with abuse victims in California. See
Diocese/State
Watch for more.
Book Review: Anne Southwood (VOTF Boston,
MA) reviews Seeking Wholeness: Women Dealing
with Abuse of Power in the Catholic Church by
Marie Evans Bouclin, Liturgical Press, Order of
Saint Benedict; Collegeville, MN, 2006.
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Something
to think about: The Los Angeles, CA diocesan
publication The Tidings recently published
an article from Crisis magazine written
by Denver, Colorado’s diocesan chancellor Francis
X. Maier, “Shakedown:
Ripped off in the name of justice”. NRC member Frank
Douglas, VOTF AZ, rebuts Maier’s argument in graphic
terms; see Commentary – “Clearing
Some Smoke: Church Officials vs. Victims”.
Something else to
think about: Catholic
News Service reports that US bishops “adopted
the fifth edition of a [new priestly formation program]
by a nearly unanimous vote, 231-3, at their June 2005
meeting in Chicago.” The text of the new program is
available at http://www.usccbpublishing.org/.
Click on “Program for Priestly Formation”. Several
correspondents have asked when the bishops, in light
of their handling of clergy sexual abuse of children
inclusive of recent events in Chicago, IL and Santa
Rosa, CA, will issue guidelines for their own formation.
What do you think? Let us know at pthorp.ed@votf.org.
[Note
to readers of In the Vineyard, Aug. 27 issue:
Some readers were not able to find Daniel Maguire’s
essay “The Church IS a Democracy” on the home page
of www.religiousconsultation.org. The particular link
is here. We apologize for any inconvenience.]
SITE-Seeing, Etc.
BishopAccountability.org has a new web site and arguably the most extensive
documentation of the Roman Catholic Church abuse crisis
worldwide; their weekly newsletter the Monitor is brief,
current and free. Of particular note for Vineyard readers
at this time is comprehensive coverage of the Santa
Rosa, CA case involving Fr. Xavier Ochoa (see more
in Diocese/State Watch). A subscription to the Monitor is
only a click away – just visit the new home page at
www.bishop-accountability.org and click on “Subscribe
to our Monitor e-newsletter”.
Frank
Douglas (VOTF AZ) notes that financial vulnerabilities
on the parish level are well considered by Michael
Ryan at his website. “Michael W. Ryan
is a retired federal law enforcement official experienced
in the conduct of financial audits and security investigations.
Following his retirement, Ryan became interested in
church security and developed comprehensive procedures
which, when properly implemented and monitored, virtually
guarantee that every dollar placed in the collection
basket or plate on Saturday evening or Sunday morning
is, in fact, deposited in the parish bank account.
Those procedures and more can be downloaded free of
charge at his website.”
It’s
not too late to sign up for Boston
College’s online
course opportunities such as “Women Envisioning
Church”.
Commonweal magazine will host a special event
in Chicago, IL on Thurs. Oct. 12. Andrew Greeley will
speak on “Loyal In Spite of It All: The Laity and the
Future of the Church” followed by a Q&A session with
Paul Baumann, editor of Commonweal . For details, click
here. The current issue of Commonweal features
a subject of interest among many Catholics, “Young Catholics & Their
Faith – Is Being Spiritual Enough?”.
The
August 24 article on the Tom
Roeser blog “Anne
Burke out-maneuvers bishops” is worth reading,
as is the Aug. 31 entry on Burke. These were part
of a series produced for The Wanderer, a national
Catholic newspaper in the United States. Burke, the
former interim chair of the USCCB National Review
Board, was the inaugural recipient of the VOTF Catherine
of Siena Lay Person Award presented at the 2005 VOTF
Convocation in Indianapolis.
Want
a sense of VOTF’s global community?
It only takes a minute to visit VOTF
Australia.
QUOTE for our time. The following prayer has
been attributed to Mother Teresa (but is also associated
with St. Therese of Lisieux). It has been making the
rounds among parents of school children as families
ready themselves for a new academic year.
May today there be peace within. May you trust
God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that
are born of faith. May you use those gifts that you
have received, and pass on the love that has been
given to you. May you be content knowing you are a
child of God. Let this presence settle into your bones,
and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise
and love. It is there for each and every one of us. |
