Voice of the Faithful Announces Details of Its Third
Meeting With the Archdiocese of Boston

Meeting With Cardinal Law Pending

Newton, Mass., - October 29, 2002 - Voice of the Faithful (VOTF), a group of over 25,000 mainstream lay Catholics formed in response to the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse crisis, today conducted its third meeting with Bishop Walter Edyvean, the designated intermediary between Cardinal Bernard Law and VOTF. A delegation of five VOTF members discussed the recent group bannings, the group’s third goal of "structural change" and the Voice of Compassion-Boston Fund with six clergy and Archdiocese Parish Council representatives. Steve Krueger, Voice of the Faithful’s Interim Executive Director summed up the group’s third meeting as "cordial and productive."

The outcome of the discussion was as follows:

Boston Archdiocese Bannings of VOTF
No decision on rescinding the bannings was made at this third meeting. However, a decision will be made after a pending face-to-face meeting between Cardinal Law and VOTF at a future date to-be-determined.

Defining Structural Change, VOTF's Goal #3
VOTF delivered a full report detailing its definition of "structural change" to Bishop Edyvean. Bishop Edyvean found the group’s report to be hopeful, positive and reasonable.

Voice of Compassion-Boston Fund
Bishop Walter Edyvean indicated that the Archdiocese had not received the National Catholic Community Foundation’s letter offering the funds. VOTF indicated that they would ask NCCF to re-send the letter immediately.

Individuals attending the meeting:
Bishop Walter Edyvean, Fr. Robert Oliver (canon lawyer),Fr. Mark O'Connell (canon lawyer) Fr. John Connolly (Cardinal Law’s personal secretary), Fr. Bob Bullock (founder of the Priests' Forum), Fr.Joseph Raeke (pastor from Holbrook), and Kathleen Heck (member of Boston’s Archdiocesan Parish Council)

From Voice of the Faithful:
Bill Cadigan (Vice President), Mary Calcaterra (Survivors’ Working Group), Mary Ann Keyes (Coordinator of Parish Voice affiliates), Steve Krueger (Interim Executive Director), and Margaret Roylance (Structural Change Working Group)