National News

Voice of the Faithful organized Good Friday Vigils throughout the country and abroad to pray for the victims of clergy abuse and to pray for an end to the culture that has allowed this abuse to continue. Although the vigils were organized quickly, VOTF members rose to the occasion and turned out throughout the country to add their prayers.

Vigilers who joined Voice of the Faithful included passersby and some priests. You can see broadcasts and other news items about these vigils below and on our VOTF in the News web page.

Shortly after the vigils, Archbishop Wuerl of Washington, D.C., who had joined the vigilers there when they prayed the Stations of the Cross, defended the hierarchy in an editorial in the Washington Post. Bill Casey and Bob Stewart of VOTF responded to the editorial in a letter to the editor, which you can read here. (The original editorial is here.)

Members Speak Out

Members in VOTF affiliates throughout the world have been particularly vocal over the latest revelations in the ongoing scandal that has once again flared up in our Church. Following are some of the articles our members have been quoted in as well as letters to the editor from our members. If you know of a letter to the editor that was published and is not included here or on the VOTF website (www.votf.org) please send it to the Vineyard editor so it can be shared with other members. (email address is vineyard@votf.org)

VOTF's Carolyn Disco responded to a NYT article on the recent sermon at St Peters. Carolyn's response was posted on the NYT's website. The article she was responding to can be read at (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/opinion/04dowd.html)

Click here to read the text of Carolyn's response

Ed Wilson on National Public Radio "On Point" show – 04/05/10
http://www.onpointradio.org/2010/04/
pope-benedict-and-the-church-crisis

See VOTF's Jessica Lillie in the Washington Post...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/
article/2010/04/01/AR2010040103771.html

Nashville TN: Elizabeth Warren on 04/02/10
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100402/
NEWS06/4020343/-1/NEWS01/Catholics+focus+
on+faith+amid+sex+scandal

Philadelphia PA: Marita Green on 04/01/10
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/89755462.html
http://www.kyw1060.com/Small-Group-
Protests-Holy-Thursday-Mass/6709360

Volusia FL: Bob Keane on 03/29/10
http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/2010/
03/29/ormond-man-wants-catholic-penance-week.html

Twin Cities MN Suzanne Severson - 03/25/10
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/faith/
89109067.html?page=1&c=y

Chicago IL: Janet Hauter
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=370842&src=

Ireland VOTF
Bryan Maguire - 03/26/10
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/brady-
under-fire-over-new-allegations-against-priest-2115538.html

More VOTF radio and TV stories are featured on
http://www.votf.org/page/votf-in-the-news/10038

Nominations for Board of Trustees Are Open
Voice of the Faithful is inviting nominations to our Board of Trustees. See details here. Candidates should be individuals of high character and diverse talents, have been involved in VOTF, and exhibited an understanding of and commitment to the VOTF mission statement and goals. All nominations must include the agreement of the candidate to be nominated. Deadline for nominations and submissions from the nominees is April 19.

News from Ireland
Ribbon of Truth, Accountability and Justice
In the light of the current crises in the Catholic Church in Ireland, when almost every day more information comes to light which causes Catholics anguish, many faithful, church going Catholics feel torn between their need to continue practicing their personal faith and their desire to show support to victims of clergy sexual abuse..

Voice of the Faithful Ireland has produced a ribbon calling for 'Truth, Accountability and Justice'. The ribbon is blue with silver writing depicting a teddy bear to denote the innocence of the children abused. We call on people to wear the ribbon in solidarity with victims/survivors of abuse. By wearing this ribbon, the church community as a whole bears witness to the support and care of victims of clerical abuse.

Continued: http://votf.org/vineyard/April8_2010/ireland.html

Calendar

The April meeting of Voice of the Faithful in the Diocese of Bridgeport will be held on Thursday, April 8th at 7:30 pm at The Congregational Church on the Green in Norwalk.

The VOTF Board, represented by Joe O'Callaghan,  John Marshall Lee,  and Dick Maiberger along with Terrence McKiernan of  BishopAccountability.org  will conduct a panel discussion entitled The Rosado Files: Priestly Sexual Abuse in the Diocese of Bridgeport.  For more details about VOTF and for directions to the meeting please consult www.votfbpt.org.

James Carroll will be presenting his book "Practicing Catholic" co-sponsored by Scituate and Weymouth VOTF Affiliates at St. Albert's church hall 1130 Washington St. Weymouth on Tuesday, May 11th at 7 pm. All Welcome! Spread the word! Plenty of parking.

Monday, April 12th, 6-9PM Fr. Roger Haight, S.J. at
Catholic Worker/Mary House 55 East 3rd Street New York City

On Monday, April 12, we welcome Fr. Roger Haight, S.J. to our April monthly meeting. Fr. Haight taught for more than thirty years in Jesuit schools of theology in Chicago, Toronto, the Philippines and Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is now a scholar-in-residence at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He is a past president of the Catholic Theological Society of America. He is the author of Jesus Symbol of God (1999), Christian Community in History and The Future of Christology (2007), among other publications. Fr. Haight will ask the question, "If God Can Be Found in Everyday Life, Why Do We Need the Church?" Please join us at the Catholic Worker on 55 East 3rd
Street.

Sunday, May 16th, 2-4PM
Fr. Roy Bourgeois, M.M. at
The Church Center for the United Nations
777 United Nations Plaza
First Avenue at 44th Street
New York City

On Sunday, May 16, we honor Fr. Roy Bourgeois with the Msgr. Philip J. Murnion Priest of Integrity Award, presented by the VOTF NY affiliate in recognition of Fr. Bourgeois's courageous witness to justice for women in the Catholic Church. Fr. Bourgeois is the founder of SOA Watch. In 2008, he stood in solidarity with Janice Svre-Duszynska, one of the first women who stood with him outside the gates of Fort Benning, when she decided that God was calling her to the priesthood. Fr. Roy has explained that he supported Janice as a matter of conscience, and as a matter of personal obligation, since she had first stood with him. In his letter of November 7, 2008 to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he wrote,

"If we are to have a vibrant, healthy Church rooted in the teachings of our Savior, we need the faith, wisdom, experience, compassion and courage of women in the priesthood. Conscience is very sacred. Conscience gives us a sense of right and wrong and urges us to do the right thing..Conscience is what compels women in our Church to say they cannot be silent and deny their call from God to the priesthood. And after much prayer, reflection and discernment, it is my conscience that compels me to do the right thing."

Fr. Bourgeois will speak on the topic of "Justice in Our World and in Our Church."

For more information, contact Francis Piderit of VOTF NY at
pideritVITF@piderit.com.

Site Seeing

National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management believes that financial management could be the key to fixing the church....
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/
kerry_robinson/2010/04/a_time_for_prophetic_
leadership_and_accountability.html

John Allen asks if middle ground is possible on how the Pope is handling the crisis...
http://ncronline.org/blogs/all-things-catholic/middle-ground-possible-pope

An update on the visitation to the nuns
http://ncronline.org/news/women/19-women-religious-communities-chosen-site-visits

Guest Commentary

The Pope, the Church, and Sexual Abuse: A Perspective
Guest Commentary:submitted by Thomas P. Doyle, J.C.D., C.A.D.C.
Fr. Thomas Doyle has written a commentary on the Pope, the Church, and sex abuse. Please click here to read it.

ACC Assembly -- A Success!

Submitted by Janet Hauter
Despite it being Palm Sunday weekend, we had standing room only at our local assembly with 230 paid attendees! The room we had "maxed out" at 200 and we were violating the fire code already! Speaking of fire, the Spirit was indeed present at that historic gathering. The energy level in the room was palpable and with Fr. Richard McBrien as our keynote speaker, all were deeply engaged in the topic of the role of the laity in these troubled times. Fr. McBrien urged the formation of small Christian communities paralleling the manner with which our Church was initially founded as he traced the history of our Church and what has changed and why.

Continued: http://votf.org/vineyard/April8_2010/acc.html

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor
Our little affiliate here in Palm Beach is helping to get a change in Statute of Limitation rules on sex crimes. The Florida bishops do not support the extension.
I am an affiliate member and do not speak for the affiliate.
Keep the Faith, Change the Church, 
Al O'Connell

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Is not time to start a campaign to ask the Pope to resign for covering up the thousands of cases of sex abuse everywhere during so many years as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and having jurisdiction on all those cases?

Pedro van Marissing
Trujillo Alto PR

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.