Response of the Faithful: A Declaration to the Pope

The following is a Declaration overwhelmingly ratified by participants at VOTF's "Response of the Faithful" Convention on July 20, 2002

We the Faithful, in order to form a more perfect Church, gather in Boston on this 20th day of July 2002, to affirm the role of the laity in the constant renewal of the Catholic Church, as proclaimed in Lumen Gentium and other documents of the Second Vatican Council. Sharing actively in Christ's priestly, prophetic, and kingly functions in the fulfillment of our lay apostolate, we meet to express our opinion on those things that concern the good of the Church.

We acknowledge with grief and anger the profound suffering of untold numbers of boys and girls, men and women, who have been sexually abused by our clergy. We honor those heroic survivors who have come forward to tell the terrible truth.

We support the decisions of the American bishops in Dallas and commit to work for the full and immediate implementation of the Charter approved there. We petition the Holy Father to support this Charter and to hold accountable any bishop who reassigned an abusive priest or concealed his crimes, and any member of the Curia who participated in these practices.

We dedicate our apostolate to building up a Church in which these crimes and the abuse of power that made them possible will not happen again.

Therefore we affirm the mission of the Voice of the Faithful:

To provide a prayerful voice, attentive to the Spirit, through which the Faithful can actively participate in the governance and guidance of the Catholic Church.

We unite around three goals: To support those who have been abused; to support priests of integrity; and to shape structural change within the Church.

In accordance with our mission and goals, we commit individually and collectively to realize fully the renewal of the Church and the role of the laity envisioned by the Second Vatican Council. We do so as loving members of the Catholic Church, The People of God, called to fulfill the mission of Christ in the Church and in the world.