VOICE OF THE FAITHFUL MAPS CATHOLIC CHURCH GOVERNANCE
&
ACCOUNTABILITY ISSUES IN THREE HIGH-PROFILE EVENTS
A New Level of Lay Participation Needed in Healing
the Church
Newton, Mass., - March 27, 2003 - Voice of the Faithful
(VOTF), a group of over 25,000 mainstream Catholics formed in response
to the Catholic Church's clergy sexual abuse crisis, continues to
outline a meaningful role for today's laity via three upcoming weekend
events: "
- VOTF President, Jim
Post, speaking at Yale University on Saturday, March 29th; "
- VOTF Trustee and co-founding
member, Jim Muller, speaking at Chicago's Dominican University
on Sunday, March 30th; and "
- VOTF's New England
Tri-State Goal #1 Forum in Dover, NH, on Saturday, March 29th.
Each event will underscore VOTF's mission to assist in repairing
the physical, psychological, and spiritual damage of clergy sexual
abuse, while creating a template for "hands-on" lay participation
within the Catholic Church.
"Voice of the Faithful is indeed a reality within the Catholic
Church in the 21st Century," Jim Post commented. "Through these
and other well-defined events, VOTF will continue to illustrate
the need for a lay-constructed checks and balance system, and will
offer specific tools and guidance in order to ensure a crisis of
this proportion never happens again."
In greater detail, these events are as follows:
I. Conference on "Governance, Accountability, and the Future
of the Church," Friday, March 28th through Sunday, March 30th
at Yale University, New Haven, CT. Jim Post will be a panelist for
the 3-4 p.m. session on Saturday, March 29th, at the Yale Law School
Auditorium, and will be joined by Kathleen McChesney, executive
director of the Office for Child and Youth Protection. The panelists
will discuss the past year in the American Catholic Church from
their respective experiences and perspectives.
"We are delighted to have Jim Post of Voice of the Faithful participating
in our conference. VOTF has shown a commitment to heal and strengthen
the Church through a deeper understanding of governance, leadership,
and the roles of the laity - precisely the issues on which our conference
will focus," said Matt Wrather, program director, Saint Thomas More,
The Catholic Chapel and Center at Yale.
For more information please call the Center at (203) 777-5537 or
go to www.yale.edu/stm.
II. "Beyond Boston & Sexual Abuse: the National Growth & Mission
of Voice of the Faithful," Sunday, March 30th, 7 p.m. at the
Priory Campus of Dominican University, Forest River, IL. Hosted
by Chicago-West Voice of the Faithful, Jim Muller will speak on
"Lay Participation in Healing the Roman Catholic Church," followed
by a question-and-answer period.
Along with helping to establish VOTF, Jim Muller is a 1965 graduate
of Notre Dame University, a world-renowned cardiologist, and a founder
of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War -
an organization awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985.
Chicago-West Voice of the Faithful was formed in the fall of 2002
and is one of several Chicago-area VOTF Parish affiliates.
For more information on this event or Chicago-West Voice of the
Faithful please visit www.forumforthefaithful.org
III. New England Tri-State Goal#1 Forum, Saturday, March 29th,
1-5 p.m., at St. Thomas More Church, Durham, NH. Sponsored by the
Survivor Support Working Groups of VOTF-MA, VOTF-NH, and VOTF-ME,
this event will focus on: "
- How to measure
bishop accountability; "
- How to create
an alternative to diocesan healing offices; "
- How to mobilize
the laity; and "
- How to fundraise
for survivor causes.
For more information regarding this event, please contact Andrea
Johnson at (781) 237-2417 or andreajohnson@attbi.com
or Anne Barrett Doyle at (781) 944-7010 or barrett.doyle@attbi.com.
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