Letter from VOTF president Jim Post
MAKING A DIFFERENCE ONE YEAR AFTER OUR CONVENTION

Dear Friends,

One year ago this week - at our first national convention on July 20, 2002 - VOTF truly became a beacon of hope and energy to Catholic lay people. Over the past year, the Internet (www.votf.org) and international media coverage connected tens of thousands of people who would otherwise feel isolated and without hope. This past month, for example, I was in Australia, where they are forming three new VOTF affiliates. Another is being formed in New Zealand. VOTF brings hope in distant places to Catholics who have despaired of being to able to influence the way their Church behaves. The voices of the faithful are being heard.

LESSONS LEARNED
VOTF was founded by people like you, who are determined to make a difference and to affirm the role of the laity through our mission, goals, and activities. Throughout the turmoil of the past year, we have remained committed, and we have learned some important lessons:

Change is difficult. Many fear that faith is at risk when discussion of change, loss of trust, and renewal occurs. VOTF's focus has always been to reform human aspects of our Church, not the divine. The crisis is attributable to faulty human administration, not faulty faith. Yet many priests, pastors, and bishops who have spent decades in a culture of deference find it difficult to listen to angry Catholics, to discuss their ideas, and to commit to change. Bishops still prefer closed meetings with a few select friendly laity. Thankfully, a few have begun to take small steps in new directions to increase dialogue with all God's children. But the pace is slow and frustrating.

Delay is unacceptable. Dioceses have proceeded very unevenly in their efforts to implement the Charter and Essential Norms for the protection of children and young people adopted by American bishops seven months ago. Response to survivor abuse has been worse. Some legal cases have been settled, but hundreds - perhaps thousands - remain unresolved. Justice delayed is justice denied.

The Catholic Church in North America is not a healthy institution. In many dioceses, key performance indicators highlight significant institutional failure:

• Attendance at Sunday Mass has dropped to some of the lowest levels ever recorded (e.g., 15% in Boston in 2002). 
• Weekly collections are off by 15-20% percent in many dioceses.
• Catholic philanthropy for major diocesan and national campaigns is down in many places. Rarely are "growth in giving" data shared.
• The Vatican has suffered financial losses, with a $15 million deficit in 2002, attributable, in part, to reduced giving from major donor nations. 
• Catholic school and parish closings are rising across the nation. 
• The morale of Catholics of all ages is in decline. Young Catholics, in particular, are disillusioned with a Church that will not be open, inclusive, and welcoming to all.
• Vocations continue to decline - young men and women are simply not being called to an institution that desperately needs priests and women religious.

Are these signs of failure "God's will," as some members of the hierarchy would have us believe? Or are they signs of human failings of our hierarchy that active participation by Catholic laymen and women, collaborating with their priests and bishops, can help reverse?

ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN
Newly appointed bishops, such as Bishop Michael Sheehan of Phoenix and Archbishop-designate Sean O'Malley of Boston, must energize, engage, and provide creative inspiration to Catholics. No bishop can heal a diocese alone. These bishops also have the opportunity to be leaders of meaningful reform in our broken American Catholic Church. And so, we believe bishops must:

• End the confusing and divisive bans of organizations of committed lay Catholics like Voice of the Faithful, and welcome all Catholics onto Church property for meetings as well as worship.
• Address the money issues:
  • Open the books through public audit, so that all can know exactly where the dioceses stand.
  • Use the expertise of lay Catholics to manage financial challenges brought on by settlements and declining financial support from the laity.
  • Create an accountable, transparent Church that people will want to support financially.
• Model the Church you want to create:
  • Humble.
  • Spiritual.
  • Cooperative.
  • Pastoral.
  • Inclusive and open.
  • Listening to all - clergy, survivors, laity.
• Bring justice for survivors.

SURVIVOR JUSTICE BEYOND SETTLEMENTS
All sexual abuse cases nationwide - indeed worldwide - must be settled fairly, and quickly. But settling cases is the beginning, not the end of the process.

Survivors of clergy sexual abuse range in age from teens to senior citizens. None will escape the psychological consequences of being abused. As a practical matter, the Catholic Church will have the survivors of clergy sexual abuse in our midst for at least six or seven decades. How will the Church evaluate, adjust, and continue programs that reach out to survivors of abuse? The living Church needs to keep drawing lessons from this experience. South Africa cannot forget its legacy of apartheid; the Catholic Church cannot forget its legacy of clergy sexual abuse.

A "DIFFERENT" CHURCH
The Church of the future must be different. New insights must be derived by examining the failures in human administration that led to this fiasco in the world's longest-operating institution. The Catholic laity's pent-up ideas, concepts, and experiences are ready for this challenge. It will take years to sort out the resentment, anger, and passion for change. But we must start somewhere - and soon. Every bishop must open his mind and heart to the laity's contributions.

A FOUR-SIDED TABLE
Bishop Michael Sheehan of Phoenix and Archbishop Sean O'Malley of Boston are in the vanguard of a new generation of American bishops who will have the opportunity - and responsibility - to guide the Catholic Church of the 21st century. The first piece of furniture they and their fellow bishops should purchase is a four-sided table, with room for clergy, survivors, laypersons, and the bishop to talk openly and honestly about the community and the Church.

There is no other way for a bishop to follow St. Francis' mission: "Repair my Church." We must all work to repair the Church. That is why Voice of the Faithful was created and why we urge all members to put faith into action. St. Francis offers us another thought as we assess the daunting challenges ahead: "First, do what is necessary, then do what is possible, then you are doing the impossible."

Sincerely,
Jim Post

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