Contact: John Moynihan, jmoynihan@votf.org ,(617) 680-2131

For Immediate Release

VOTF MARKS ANNIVERSARY OF CLERGY SCANDAL REVELATION

January 4, 2007 – Newton, MA – On January 6, 2002 the Boston Globe began a series of articles that eventually brought the enormous scandal of sexual abuse and cover-up within the Catholic Church before the eyes of the general public throughout the world. Voice of the Faithful (VOTF), a Catholic reform group that emerged in the wake of the scandal will mark that event with a series of events this weekend beginning with a Mass of Remembrance at St John the Evangelist Church in Wellesley MA on Saturday morning, January 6th at 9:00 AM. A reception will follow in the adjacent Philbin Hall. The Mass will be celebrated by the Reverend Thomas Powers, pastor of St. John’s. VOTF began with some 25 people meeting in the back of this Church to discuss the shocking revelations they were reading about in the Globe series and has evolved into a worldwide organization with over 35,000 members.

For more information about the Mass of Remembrance please contact Dorothy Kennedy of the Boston Area VOTF Council at 508-479-6159.

VOTF will also be collaborating with the Survivor’s Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) in sponsoring a number of other events around the country. Among these will be:

1. Boston MA – A SOLIDARITY MARCH on Sunday, January 7th to commence at 1:30 PM from the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, 1400 Washington St. Boston, to the New England School of Law, 154 Stuart St. Boston.

At 2:00 p.m., outside the law school, the new "Comprehensive Protection from Childhood Sexual Abuse Act of 2007" will be unveiled and discussed.

At 2:30 p.m., inside the law school, a panel moderated by Ann Hagan Webb, Snap’s New England Coordinator, will include

• David Clohessy, National Director of SNAP who for 16 years has lead the nation's largest and oldest self-help group for clergy molestation victims
• Susan Renehan, abuse survivor, activist and co-chair of the Coalition to Reform Sex Abuse Laws in Massachusetts
• Boston attorney Carmen Durso, who represents abuse victims and has spearheaded efforts on Beacon Hill to reform Massachusetts’ laws regarding sexual abuse
• Award-winning journalist Kathy Shaw, who has for years maintained a daily blog called “Abused Tracker” which compiles media accounts of clergy sex cases across the world. Shaw covered the crisis for years as a reporter with the Worchester Telegram
• Boston attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who also represents abuse victims and whose lawsuits on behalf of boys molested by Fr. John Geoghan helped spark the Boston Globe series that, in turn, lead to a wave of similar revelations across the nation

For more information about the above event please contact Ann Hagan Webb at 781-239-1182 or Paul Kellen at 781 395 3682.

2. Cities across the country – A series of short VIGILS to be held in cooperation with SNAP. Most events will be on Sunday, January 7th at 11:00 AM in front of the local cathedral. Please call the local contact to confirm the exact location and time. Cities and contact info follows:

VOTF is a worldwide movement of concerned mainstream Catholics formed in response to the clergy sexual abuse crisis. The group’s mission is 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. Its goals are to support survivors of clergy sexual abuse, support priests of integrity, and shape structural change within the Catholic Church in full accordance and harmony with Church teaching.