“Who Owns Our Church?” will be the topic of a conference at Fairfield University on Saturday, April 26, 2008 sponsored by Voice of the Faithful in the Diocese of Bridgeport and The Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J., Chair of Catholic Studies.

David O’Brien, the keynoter, will speak on: “Who Owns Our Church? Trustees and Trusteeism in the American Church.” In the early nineteenth century boards of lay trustees owned parish churches and hired pastors. Conflicts between pastors and people, pastors and bishops eventually led the bishops to demand absolute ownership of parish churches. The battle over trustees was so intense that the term “trusteeism” has a decidedly negative connotation among bishops and clergy today. In the State of Connecticut, ownership is now vested in the parish corporation consisting of the bishop, the vicar-general, the pastor, and two lay trustees appointed by the clerical members.

David O’Brien, professor emeritus of American Church History and former director of the Center for Religion and Ethics at the College of the Holy Cross, recently retired as a member of the Board of Trustees of Voice of the Faithful. His many books include: Public Catholicism (1996); From the Heart of the American Church: Catholic Higher Education and American Culture (1994); Isaac Hecker, an American Catholic (1992); The Renewal of American Catholicism (1972); and American Catholics and Social Reform: The New Deal Years (1968).

In addition to Professor O’Brien, Paul Lakeland, who holds the Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J., Chair of Catholic Studies at Fairfield University, will speak on “Who Owns Our Church? A Theological Perspective.” Professor Lakeland, a long-time supporter of Voice of the Faithful, is well known as the author of the seminal book, The Liberation of the Laity (2003), and of Catholicism at the Crossroads: How the Laity Can Save the Church (2007).

Finally, speakers representing VOTF’s three study groups will briefly address the issues of Church governance, the role of women in the Church, and Church finance. A free and open discussion of these matters by the speakers and the audience will follow.

The conference will open at 9:30 a.m. and conclude with mass at 4 p.m. All sessions will be held in the Oak Room of the Barone Campus Center. For further details and information about registration please see www.votfbpt.org.

VOTF Affiliate and FOSIL Working Together

[To learn more about FOSIL, go to fosilonline.com. The Bishop Braxton of Belleville story was reported in the March 27 Vineyard.]

By Lester Himstedt, FOSIL Representative

FOSIL has been hosting Lay Synods for a number of years as a mechanism to inform Catholic adults on issues that impact them and their Church, and provide a public forum to discuss areas of interest and/or concern.  These have included: Rights of Catholics in the Church; clergy sexual abuse; selection of a bishop. More information about previous Lay Synods is available on the website (fosilonline.com), which indicates the format, topics and presenters.

Because of Bishop Braxton’s misuse of restricted funds for other purposes, among other leadership problems, a majority of diocesan clergy have publicly asked that the bishop resign. FOSIL has echoed that request in a letter to Archbishop Sambi and Cardinal Francis George.  There is a serious undercurrent of unrest about financial accountability throughout the diocese, so we think that a Synod on this topic would provide a format for people to better understand and respond to this issue.

We would hope to host this event in late October or early November at some location in the Belleville area.  It should be noted that Bishop Braxton will no longer allow us the use of church facilities, even though Archbishop Gregory had done so previously.  Normally the Synods are held on a Sunday afternoon, lasting 3-4 hours.

We propose that the agenda will consist of an address by an expert spokesperson, followed by a panel discussion, ending with an opportunity for attendees to submit questions to the presenters and panelists, and offer their own comments to the attendees.   

We have worked closely with members of the VOTF St. Louis MO affiliate, and co-sponsored a previous presentation by Fr. Tom Doyle.  We are currently working with them and SNAP in developing a stand-alone Speaker’s Bureau that will hopefully be able to reach out to parishes in the Belleville IL and St. Louis MO (Arch)dioceses with information about the outstanding issues related to sexual clergy abuse, and how to “protect our children.”