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Did We Turn Talk into Action?
More than 200 people attended VOTF’s 2014 Assembly: Turning Talk into Action, this past Saturday, April 5, in Hartford, Connecticut. The assembly generated tremendous enthusiasm that permeated the entire organization. A common refrain heard throughout the day was, “I wish I could attend everything!!”
Joanne Moran opened up the day with a beautiful prayer that immediately put everyone in the right frame of mind.
 The morning's first guest speaker was John L. Allen, Jr. (right), Associate Editor for Catholic News at The Boston Globe.Allen founded the Vatican beat for National Catholic Reporter and has been a long-time Vatican correspondent for CNN. He presented his insider's view of Pope Francis and his papacy in a talk called "Perspectives on Pope Francis & A Climate of Change." Click here to watch Allen's answer to the last question during his Q&A session.
 Fr. Thomas Reese, SJ (left), spoke next, about Jesuit spirituality and the particularly Jesuit aspects of Francis' papacy. Fr. Reese is another Vatican "watcher," as a Senior Editor at National Catholic Reporter and former Associate Editor at America magazine.
In the afternoon, 2014 Assembly participants heard a panel discussion led by three experts in applying the principles of restorative justice. They considered options for applying such principles to healing the wounds the clergy sexual abuse scandal has caused. Panelists were, left to right, William Casey, former VOTF board chair, Fr. James Connell, who was instrumental in founding the Catholic Whistleblowers organization, and Prof. Thomas Porter, a Boston University theology teacher and Methodist minister with a concentration in religion and conflict resolution.
  Two people familiar to many VOTF members, Jayne O'Donnell, former trustee, development coordinator and 2014 Assembly chair, and Mark Mullaney, VOTF board chair and president, were highly visible in Hartford, Jayne as chief-of-the-works and Mark as MC.
 Former VOTF president Jim Post, left, and his wife Jeannette joined VOTF member Joe Finn at the 2014 Assembly.
The 2014 Assembly certainly would not have been successful without the Spirit whom the organization calls on to provide its prayerful voice. The day ended with a beautiful prayer by Carolyn Disco; click here to read her prayer.
Did you attend the 2014 Assembly? If so, please share your thoughts! Send them to vineyard@votf.org.
“I just want to thank all of you who made yesterday's conference a WONDERFUL one! My only objection was that I could not go to all the break- out sessions! They all sounded so good!
Great organization....great speakers....great workshops....great food...great day!
Thanks to all of you!”
Assembly Reports:
Parish Financial Responsibility
At the conference, Mike Ryan led two sessions of “Protecting the Parish Purse.” The topic, Sunday collection security, appeared to capture and hold the attention of all who attended these two sessions.
Regarding recurring themes, questions or areas of special interest, the most common observation concerned the fact that the vast majority of churchgoers assume that whatever they place in the collection basket each weekend will be properly deposited into the parish account. One participant, a lead usher in his parish, remarked that, prior to hearing Mike’s presentation, he had not thought about the significance of his weekly, unescorted transport of the unsecured collection from the rear of the church to the sacristy; he now recognizes not only the collections’ great vulnerability but also his own vulnerability in the event of an unexplained loss, whether real or merely suspected.
Another participant wondered which type of parish would be most vulnerable to Sunday collection embezzlement: a large parish with a correspondingly large collection or a small parish with a relatively small collection. Mike’s answer was that, absent genuinely secure procedures, both are equally vulnerable; only the size of the potential loss would differ.
A related question had to do with the difficulty a small parish might have in assembling enough volunteers to implement and effectively maintain a secure operation. Mike agreed that this can be an issue - particularly regarding the counting operation - but added that it’s the pastor’s responsibility to recruit whatever number of volunteers is needed to make it work.
Further, he noted that a scarcity of workers has no bearing on whether or not the required security equipment is put into use, whether it is serially-numbered, tamper-evident polyethylene bags or drawstring sacks (or zippered bags) used in combination with serially numbered, tamper-proof seals.
Yet another issue that arose and was addressed is the very real potential for those involved in any aspect of the Sunday collection process to become offended and even resist the implementation of secure procedures where none existed. Again, Mike acknowledged that certainly can occur, but added that the mere fact one or more volunteers or employees choose to be offended by a higher level security cannot be allowed to block implementation. Indeed, the most vociferous of those who object might well harbor a hidden agenda. In support of that, he offered the example of an employee of a parish for which he implemented secure procedures.
Participants of both workshops were invited to help themselves to the handouts that had been prepared for them, including the so-called Archdiocese of Chicago Guidelines that were adopted by the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management (NLRCM) (which can be found on VOTF’s website) circa 2008 as their one-and-only recommended Best Practice for managing Sunday collections.
The two workshops served a useful purpose and will likely bear fruit in the form of one or more previously vulnerable parishes being introduced to, and subsequently adopting, genuinely secure Sunday collection, counting and banking procedures.
Thanks to Mike (and Shirley) for two wonderful workshops!
More News about Financial Abuses
Considering discussions on where we go from here, we don't think we could have commented any better than this recent editorial in National Catholic Reporter on the unresolved financial and sexual abuse scandals in our Church, "An Engaged Laity Demands Answers on Finances, Abuse."
Assembly Reports:
Clericialism Workshop
The Clericalism workshop was led by Ed and Anne Wilson and was well attended. The group discussed the following questions:
Following are some excerpts from their discussion...
Concerning the 1st question: What is the definition of clericalism (by workshop participants)
-- Influenced by Irish culture, corrected by a participant as Irish-American culture – affecting both the attitudes of the hierarchy and the laity.
-- Perhaps there is a similarity between clericalism and the way we refer to doctors or other professionals, but while the doctor-patient relation has grown more equal, the clergy-laity has generally not.
Concerning the 2nd question: What are the causes of clericalism?
--Celibacy, indoctrination/training all contribute
--Ontological basis as developed by Gary Wills
Concerning the 3rd question: How do we go forward from clericalism?
--We need to be adults and speak up, as Paul Lakeland tells us
--Our theological thinking has become more mature and we need to apply that to clericalism; one participant remarked that he used to think that the priest changed the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ and now he realizes that it is the community participating in the Mass that does this.
--Refer to your parish priest by his first name; do not use titles
--Change training of seminarians to no longer emphasize the primacy of the priesthood. Another suggestion on seminarian training is to move it to college campuses. However a Harvard Divinity student in the workshop who has seminarians in her classes did not feel this would have the desired. The Jesuits in her program have a feeling of superiority and a denigration of women.
--Anti-clericalism is more prevalent in many European countries because the church and a repressive state were connected; however in the US, immigrants identified with their church.
-- Finally it was observed that it is difficult to make priests become less clerical because they enjoy the benefits of clericalism so much.
A Priest of Integrity
“He always spoke of peace and reconciliation.” Father Frans van der Lugt, a 75-year-old Dutch Jesuit who refused to leave war-torn Syria, instead staying in Homs to help the poor and homeless, was beaten by armed men and killed with two bullets to the head, according to an email sent by the Jesuits' Middle East province to the Jesuit headquarters in Rome. Father van der Lugt had been in Syria since 1966 and helped Christians and Muslims in the war torn country. In February, he put an appeal on YouTube asking for help for the starving and injured.
-- “Jesuit Who Used YouTube To Appeal for Help for Homs Reportedly Killed”
Focus
Highlighting issues we face working together
to Keep the Faith, Change the Church
Vatican Launches Investigation into Cardinal Keith
“The Vatican is to investigate claims of sexual misconduct which led to the resignation of Cardinal Keith O'Brien. Cardinal O'Brien resigned as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh in February 2013 following allegations of improper conduct in the 1980s.” By BBC News Scotland
Vatican Abuse Commission Member: Bishops Must Be Held Accountable
“A sexual abuse victim who served on the newly formed Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors said in two interviews that bishops must be held accountable for any cover-up of clerical abuse.” By CatholicCulture.org
-- Sex Abuse Survivor to Papal Adviser: Marie Collins, By Associated Press
-- Child Sex Abuse Victim to Advise Pope on Reforms after Challenging ‘Lies and Hypocrisy’ in Catholic Church, By Michael Higgins, National Post
Bishops Follow Pope’s Example: Opulence Is Out
“The archbishop of Atlanta had a plan to resolve the space crunch at his cathedral: He would move out of his residence so priests could move in, and then he would build himself a new house with donated money and land. It was not just any house. It was a $2.2 million, 6,000-square-foot mansion ... But as Pope Francis seeks ‘a church which is poor and for the poor,’ expectations for Catholic leaders are changing rapidly.” By Michael Paulson, The New York Times
-- When Shepherds Go Deluxe, Editorial by The New York Times
The Fight to Reveal Abuses by Catholic Priests
“Cardinal Edward M. Egan, the former Roman Catholic archbishop of New York, is in no way the principal face of the sexual abuse scandals that have buffeted the church and its priesthood almost without pause for three decades. But he embodies a certain mind-set among some in the highest clerical ranks.” By Clyde Haberman, The New York Times
-- The Shame of the Church (Retro Report video companion to “The Fight to Reveal Abuses by Catholic Priests”), By The New York Times
Pope’s New Abuse Commission Is Another Promise to Be Broken
“The countless victims of clergy sex abuse have been waiting for 30 years for the Vatican to show it really understands the depth of the problem and is willing to do something real about it. Judging by the latest move, naming members of a pontifical commission, victims will have to keep on waiting. Those who have been deeply involved in this issue for the long haul had little hope the promised commission would make a difference, and we probably won't be disappointed.” By Thomas P. Doyle, National Catholic Reporter
Italy’s Bishops, Using Vatican Advice, Say No Obligation to Tell Authorities about Sex Abuse
“Italy's bishops have adopted a Vatican-backed sex abuse policy that says they have no obligation to inform police if they suspect a child has been molested. The Italian Bishops' Conference said the guidelines published Friday reflected suggestions from the Vatican's office that handles sex abuse investigations.” By Associated Press on Fox News
Click here to read the rest of this issue of Focus ...
Letter to the Editor
We have heard much about the Bishop’s mansion in Germany. Is the Pope aware of the two Bishop’s mansions in New Jersey? These were noted in an editorial on the last page of NCR in early March (unfortunately, I can’t remember the date ). I’m very senior, and not very computer savvy, but do enjoy your E-mails. Would have liked to attend the Assembly.
Thank you
Questions, Comments?
Please send them to Siobhan Carroll, Vineyard Editor, at Vineyard@votf.org. Unless otherwise indicated, I will assume comments can be published as Letters to the Editor. |
