Contact: Suzanne Morse 617-680-2131, smorse@votf.org

For Immediate Release

Voice of the Faithful Calls on U.S. Bishops to End Secrecy around Revised Charter

Organization Delivers Letter to Bishop Skylstad Expressing "Grave Disappointment"

June 15, 2005 - Newton, MA and Chicago, IL - Leaders of Voice of the Faithful are calling on the U.S. Bishops to end the secrecy around the review of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. Members of the organization of lay Catholics are asking for the Bishops to be open about the content of the revised Charter, and the process that the Bishops will used to approve it.

The U.S. Bishops have undertaken a review of the Charter that was passed in 2002 in response to the clergy sexual abuse crisis. In January, members of a Task Force assembled by Voice of the Faithful submitted suggestions and recommendations to strengthen the Charter to Archbishop Harry Flynn, chair of the Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse. The information sent to Archbishop Flynn is available in full at Voice of the Faithful's web site.

The organization expressed their concerns in a letter to Bishop William Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, by Voice of the Faithful president James E. Post. "It was in this month, three years ago, that the landmark Charter and Norms were created to protect children in Catholic parishes across the country, and to hold accountable those responsible for the creation of the clergy sexual abuse crisis that has so damaged the Catholic Church," said Post. "The 2002 conference in Dallas marks the only time that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has heard directly from the survivors of clergy sexual abuse. The Charter that passed at that extraordinary event represented the highest hope our Church has had in repairing a wounded community. Thus, we have felt grave disappointment in the process for review of the Charter, which to date has not been transparent or inclusive of survivor and lay input."

The letter was hand-delivered to the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops being held this week in Chicago, IL, by Gaile Pohlhaus, national secretary of Voice of the Faithful. "We remain concerned that the Bishops have taken this opportunity to weaken the provisions of the Charter," said Pohlhaus. "That Charter represented the first step that the Catholic Church in this country took to create meaningful child safety protections and to hold accountable those who are responsible for the clergy sexual abuse crisis. As Catholics concerned about the future of the Church, we must be advocates for a strong Charter that promotes accountability and justice for the survivor community."

"The Bishops have to continue to work to restore trust in their leadership," said Suzanne Morse, Communications Manager for Voice of the Faithful. "The proposal to go to a system of total self-reports and the weakening of the language around the Bishops role in the clergy sexual abuse crisis has been a grave disappointment. All Catholics want to heal from this experience, but healing only comes through identifying the underlying causes and then taking constructive action to address them."

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About Voice of the Faithful: Voice of the Faithful (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 victim/survivors of abuse, support priests of integrity, and shape structural change within the Catholic Church in full accordance and harmony with Church teaching. VOTF's supporting membership exceeds 30,000 registered persons from 50 U.S. states, 39 countries and 207 Parish Voice affiliates throughout the world.