Contact: John Moynihan, jmoynihan@votf.org, (617) 558-5252, (617) 680-2131 cell

For Immediate release

For Immediate release
Voice of the Faithful Urges Jesuits to Release Personnel Files

November 19, 2007 - While heartened that 110 Alaska natives will be receiving some measure of justice for their years of abuse by Jesuit priests, Voice of the Faithful asks that the Oregon Province of Jesuits make public the personnel records of the Jesuit priests involved. Were the superiors who made these assignments aware that these priests were abusive before sending them to remote Alaskan villages? That the settlement did not require that these documents be made public (as was the case in recent diocesan settlements such as Portland OR and Los Angeles CA) is greatly disturbing; how is the whole faith community to learn and move on in trust and hope when so few are privy to the facts?

"For the Jesuits, as for any religious community, responsibility and accountability go hand in hand," said Mary Pat Fox, President of Voice of the Faithful. "We ask the Very Rev. John Whitney S.J., provincial superior of the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province to voluntarily make these records known in the interest of transparency and accountability. Until all such veils of secrecy are lifted, the Catholic faithful will not be able to find full restoration as a faith community."

//////end//////

Press contact

John Moynihan (617) 558-5252, (617) 680 2131 ©

About Voice of the Faithful (VOTF) 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.