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Press Releases

Movement of Catholics Motivated by Clergy Sexual Abuse Scandal Gathers for 2014 Assembly in Harford, April 5

BOSTON, Mass., Feb. 26, 2014 – Voice of the Faithful®, a movement of Catholics started in 2002 at the height of the Boston, Mass., clergy sexual abuse scandal, will hold its “2014 Assembly: Turning Talk into Action” on Saturday, April 5, from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., at the Connecticut Convention Center, Hartford. Registration is $80 per person, and lunch is included.

VOTF National Statement: Is Catholic Church in Ireland Backpedaling on Child Protection?

Boston, Mass., Jan. 23, 2014 -- The Roman Catholic Church in Ireland appears to be backpedaling from earlier strict stances on child protection. Voice of the Faithful® in Ireland cites two examples.

First, Sean O’Conaill of VOTF in Ireland pointed out that Ian Elliott, CEO of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland for the past six years, has alleged that “over the past four years, there has been a successive reduction in the NBSCCC budget.”

VOTF National Statement: Archbishop Nienstedt Steps Aside in Minnesota

Boston, Mass., March 11, 2014 -- Voice of the Faithful® agrees with the step Minneapolis and St. Paul Archbishop John Nienstedt is taking after allegations he touched a boy inappropriately. News reports say he is stepping aside while the allegation is investigated. In doing so, he is following the U.S. bishops’ guidelines for protecting children.

Milwaukee Abuse Files Released

When the Archdiocese of Milwaukee filed for bankruptcy reorganization as a way to deal with hundreds of sex-abuse claims still unsettled, it also sought to keep secret thousands of files on those cases. Last week, a day before the bankruptcy judge was to rule on that effort, the dicoese suddenly announced it would release the documents July 1. Jeff Anderson & Associates, which represents many of the sex-abuse claimants, has posted the released documents on their web site.

VOTF National Statement -- Voice of the Faithful Offers Prayers for Success of Association of US Catholic Priests June Assembly

BOSTON, Mass., June 20, 2013 – A worldwide movement of reform-minded, faithful Roman Catholics, Voice of the Faithful® offers its prayers for success for clergy attending the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests’ second annual assembly June 24-27 in Seattle.

VOTF Urges Pope Francis to "Act Decisively" Regarding Bishops, Clergy Sexual Abuse & His Message to Vatican Congregation

BOSTON, Mass., June 6, 2013 – Pope Francis has recommended that the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Catholic Church’s child sexual abuse prosecutorial arm, “act decisively with regard to cases of sexual abuse.” Currently, three cases in the U.S. provide an opportunity to see whether decisive action also will include holding accountable bishops who fail to act when sex abuse is revealed:
 

    New Book Raises Voices of Roman Catholics Who Desire a Renewed Church

    BOSTON, Mass., May 13, 2013 – Only a courageous person would want to try reforming the Roman Catholic Church, a 2,000-year-old institution that practiced its liturgy in a dead language as recently as 50 years ago – and a persistently courageous person to keep trying for more than a decade.

    A new book, Voices: Telling Our Stories, offers a look at some who exhibit such courage and shows in the voice of the reformers why and how Catholics who are firm in their faith, but disenchanted with their Church, turn to advocacy as a way to remain whole.

    VOTF National Statement -- Voice of the Faithful Expects Pope Francis to 'Act Decisively' in New Jersey Clergy Sexual Abuse Case

     BOSTON, Mass., May 8, 2013 – The Roman Catholic archbishop of Newark has allowed an admitted child molester to continue contact with young people, and Church reform movement Voice of the Faithful® expects Pope Francis to “act decisively” as he said last week the Church must do in cases of clergy sexual abuse. Acting decisively should include holding accountable any bishop who fails to act responsibly in sex abuse cases. The question here: Will Pope Francis hold the archbishop accountable?

    VOTF National Statement -- New Pope, New Church?

    BOSTON, Mass., Mar. 13, 2013 – As the smoke clears from the top of the Sistine Chapel, the immense apparatus that is the Roman Catholic Church lurches forward under new leadership. Voice of the Faithful®, as a movement of progressive Catholics, is most interested in where it’s going.

    “We hope Pope Francis will listen to the lay men and women in the 21st century,” said Mark Mullaney, VOTF president.

    VOTFBAC Statement: Cardinal O'Malley's Transparency Efforts Applauded by VOTF's Boston Council

    BOSTON, Mass., Mar. 9, 2013 – Cardinal Sean O’Malley, among cardinals who will elect Benedict XVI’s successor, appears to be following a better path as a diocesan leader, according to the Boston Area Council of Voice of the Faithful®. “We value the contributions he’s made in Rome so far,” said VOTFBAC chair Anne Southwood of Marshfield.

    VOTF National Statement -- Voice of the Faithful Prays for Pope & a Renewed Church as Benedict XVI Steps Down

    NEWTON, Mass., Feb. 11, 2013 – Voice of the Faithful® prays for Pope Benedict XVI’s spiritual and physical health as he announces his resignation today, a move the Catholic Church has not seen for 600 years. The worldwide Catholic Church reform movement also prays that the new pope will be willing to listen to and discern the collective wisdom of all the people of God.

    VOTF National Statement -- Some Justice in Cardinal Mahony’s Removal from Public Ministry

    NEWTON, Mass., Feb. 1, 2013 – Voice of the Faithful® sees some slight, long overdue justice in the recent removal of retired Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony from public ministry for abetting clergy sexual abuse, a first in the decades-long scandal. Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez announced Mahony’s censure in a letter Jan. 31 in which he stated that, effective immediately, Mahony “would no longer have any administrative or public duties.”

    VOTF National Statement: Child Sex Abuse Statutes of Limitation Reform Makes Sense on Both Sides of the World

    NEWTON, Mass., Nov. 30, 2012 – Two incidents on opposite sides of the world have recently underscored the disparity in views on the reform of child sex abuse statutes of limitation, which Roman Catholic Church reform movement Voice of the Faithful® has long sought as a means for abuse victims to receive justice.

    VOTF National Statement: Convicted Prelate Apparently Not on Bishops' Agenda in Baltimore This Week

    NEWTON, Mass., Nov. 11, 2012 -- Bishop Robert Finn of Missouri stands convicted of covering up for a priest caught with thousands of images involving "child sex" on his computer. That this is a travesty is an understatement. That Bishop Finn has not resigned or been removed or even censured by his brother bishops is abhorrent. As U.S. bishops gather for their Fall General Assembly, Nov. 12-15, in Baltimore, Bishop Finn’s situation appears not to have made the agenda.

    Australian Catholic Church & Boy Scouts of America Scandals Show Depth & Breadth of Child Sex Abuse & Cover-Up

    NEWTON, Mass., Oct. 19, 2012 – Recent revelations of child sexual abuse and cover-up in the Roman Catholic Church in Australia and the Boy Scouts of America show the depth and breadth of this continuing worldwide perversion and scandal, according the Church reform movement Voice of the Faithful®.

    Naitonal Statement -- Philadelphia Story Underscores Voice of the Faithful Calls for Church Financial Transparency

    NEWTON, Mass., Oct. 1, 2012 – Recent exposing of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s financial woes (see “Archdiocese of Phila. in serious financial shape – and so are its parishes,” Philadelphia Inquirer, Sept. 30, 2012) underscores the Roman Catholic Church reform movement Voice of the Faithful’s long-time calls for more transparency and accountability in parish and diocesan finances.

    VOTF National Statement -- Civil Authorities Hold Bishop Accountable with Finn Conviction; Something Church Unwilling to Do

    NEWTON, Mass., Sept. 7, 2012 – Bishop Robert Finn, pastoral leader of the diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., yesterday became the first bishop, and the highest Roman Catholic Church official, to be convicted in criminal court in America for his role in the Church’s decades-long clergy sexual abuse scandal. Church reform movement Voice of the Faithful® decries the fact that our Church, as moral authority, was unwilling to hold Bishop Finn accountable and left it to civil authorities to do so.
     

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