In the Vineyard: May 28, 2018

In the Vineyard :: May 28, 2018 :: Volume 18, Issue 10

News from National

With a theme promoting Progress & Promise, Voice of the Faithful’s 2018 Conference will feature three speakers who wiill engage attendees on topics such as lay leadership, recent developments in the papal commission on clergy sex abuse, and the progress of key VOTF initiatives: Broken Vessel Healing Circles, and diocesan financial transparency.

Register for the conference at this link to take advantage of the Early Bird Special reduced price of $85/person. Don’t delay! Full-price registration will be $125 per person.

Plus you can enjoy a glimpse of autumn colors and even take in downtown Providence’s premier event: WaterFire, a sight and sound extravaganza difficult to capture in words but which has captured the imaginations of more than 10 million visitors since it began in 1994.

With more than 80 sparkling bonfires, the fragrant scent of aromatic wood smoke, the flickering firelight on the arched bridges, the silhouettes of the fire tenders passing by the flames, the torch-lit vessels traveling down the river, and enchanting music from around the world, WaterFire engages all the senses and emotions of those who stroll the paths of Waterplace Park.

Don’t miss VOTF’s 2018 Conference and make WaterFire part of your plans. A lighting is presently planned for sunset on Oct. 6. Click here for more information about this spectacular event …

It’s easy to register online, or you may download this registration form and mail your registration to VOTF.

Join us to discuss how we will continue to raise Spirit-led voices for our Church.

News from Affiliates

Mark Schmieder Memorial Scholarship Funds for 2018

Greater Cincinnati VOTF established the Fr. Mark Schmieder Memorial Education Fund in 2010 to encourage prevention, awareness and healing of abuse trauma.

Fr. Mark Scholarship Funds are available this year to help a survivor or family member of a survivor who wishes to attend the 2018 National SNAP Conference at The Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, July 6-8, 2018. The award amounts will be based on the needs of the individual applicants.

Note: Deadline for application is June 25.

Applicants should send an email to info@votfcincinnati.org stating their interest in attending the 2018 SNAP conference along with a brief statement (no more than ½ page) about their interest in advocacy, education, outreach or their healing journey. Please be sure to include a contact phone number, mailing address and a statement of what help you are seeking (registration, lodging, transportation costs, for example). Call or email if you have questions about applying: 513-231-5271, info@votfcincinnati.org

  • Priority is given to applications from OH, KY or IN. However, victims/survivors from other states are also eligible and encouraged to apply.
  • All application-emails should be submitted to info@votfcincinnati.org by June 15, 2018.


Highlighting issues we face working together to Keep the Faith, Change the Church

TOP STORIES

Australian prelate convicted of covering up sexual abuse
“An Australian archbishop who was the most senior Roman Catholic cleric in the world charged with covering up child sex abuse was convicted Tuesday (May 22) and faces a potential two years in prison. Magistrate Robert Stone handed down the verdict against Archbishop of Adelaide Philip Wilson in Newcastle Local Court, north of Sydney, following a magistrate-only trial.” By Associated Press on Cruxnow.com

All of Chile’s bishops offer resignations after meeting pope on abuse
“Every bishop in Chile offered his resignation to Pope Francis after a three-day meeting at the Vatican to discuss the clerical sexual abuse scandal. “We want to announce that all bishops present in Rome, in writing, have placed our positions in the Holy Father’s hands so that he may freely decide regarding each one of us,” Bishop Juan Ignacio Gonzalez Errazuriz of San Bernardo said May 18 in a statement on behalf of the country’s bishops. The unprecedented decision was made on the final day of their meeting May 15-17 with Francis.” By Junno Arocho Esteves, Catholic News Service, in National Catholic Reporter

Pennsylvania dioceses say they won’t block report on clerical sexual abuse
“Several dioceses in Pennsylvania have said they will not try to block a report from a grand jury investigation into clerical sexual abusein the state. The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office is overseeing the grand jury investigation into six of the eight Catholic dioceses in the state: Allentown, Harrisburg, Scranton, Erie, Greensburg and Pittsburgh. ‘We will not challenge the release of the grand jury report.’” By Cruxnow.com Staff

The Pope opens his eyes to abuse
“The abuse of minors by pedophile priests has been among the most painful sagas of our time, the horror compounded by the knowledge that hierarchs could have stopped the predators if only they had not chosen, for so long, to cover up their actions. Now, at long last, Pope Francis seems to have glimpsed the depth of the global crisis.” By The New York Times Editorial Board

Click here to read the rest of this issue of Focus

Pope Francis Creates 14 New Cardinals

Pope Francis surprised many when he announced earlier this month he would create 14 new Cardinals in June. Trying to ensure that those who elect his successor are humble men committed to “a church of the poor and for the poor, the Pope chose men based on the criteria of universality and attention to “the peripheries”; who are humble pastors with “the smell of the sheep.” His actions also reduce the overall number of Europeans and Italians in the electoral college, abandon the tradition that appointment to certain sees automatically brings with it a red hat, and restrict the number of Roman Curia cardinals by reserving the red hat only for the prefects of congregations (or their equivalent).

Read the analysis in America Magazine here.

Questions, Comments?

Please send them to Siobhan Carroll, Vineyard Editor, at Vineyard@votf.org. Unless otherwise indicated, I will assume comments can be published as Letters to the Editor.

Reminder: Please notify office@votf.org if you change your email address.

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