Please send comments and inquiries to vineyard@votf.org.dvd cloner 2 free regestration

In this issue: Settlement in Chicago but Questions Remain; Music Ministry Alive!; Welcome to New Vineyard Editor; Diocesan Survey news; SNAP Advocate Faces Serious Health Issues; Long Island VOTF Hosts 5th Faith Convention; Southeastern Wisconsin Affiliate Activities; Maine VOTF Elects New President; Santa Barbara VOTF Publishes Annual Report; Update on St. Stanislaus; and more.dvd cloner 2 free regestration

Settlement in Chicago But Questions Remain

The Archdiocese of Chicago just announced a $12.7 million settlement with 16 victims of clergy sexual abuse. Voice of the Faithful supports the settlement as a move towards justice. But this settlement, like others, still leaves us far short of the accountability and transparency so needed to transform our Church. Read our national press release on the settlement here.dvd cloner 2 free regestration

For the press release from the Chicagoland affiliate, click here.dvd cloner 2 free regestration

And to read what the Chicago newspapers reported on the settlement, check out the Chicago Sun-Times coverage and a Chicago Tribune story.dvd cloner 2 free regestration You also can download a PDF copy of the deposition Cardinal George gave on Jan. 30, 2008, during the mediation of legal claims. It’s on the Chicago Archdiocese web site: http://www.archchicago.org. Scroll down to the bottom of the left-hand column and click the link named Misconduct. The “Deposition of Cardinal George” is the last item shown on that page – it may take a while to download, so be warned.

Music Heaven in St. Paul

There’s something wonderful going on with young Catholics who find their way to the Midwest in July. It’s Music Ministry Alive!, a summer camp title especially apt for a program that draws young liturgical musicians and singers from across the nation. It was an uplifting experience for a lucky VOTF member, as she tells us here.dvd cloner 2 free regestration

NATIONAL News

National VOTF welcomes Siobhan Carroll as new Vineyard editor. Siobhan joined us at the end of July and set up the July 25 issue of In the Vineyard. Siobhan brings extensive media relations and writing experience to the task, having worked in public relations for more than 18 years. Along with developing marketing plans and product launches, Siobhan has developed newsletters, op-ed contributions, and exhibitions throughout the U.S. She was present at the “birth” of VOTF – pushing her own baby in a stroller at the Hynes Convention Center – and lives now in Rhode Island with her husband, two sons and daughter. Siobhan will be looking for your help in the coming weeks, to learn what your affiliates and working groups are doing. Please welcome her.dvd cloner 2 free regestration Diocesan Survey News – Here’s a VOTF Volunteer Opportunity you can do right at home. VOTF is continuing the diocesan survey we completed for 34 dioceses last year. There are a total of 175 dioceses in the United States (118 of these dioceses have no VOTF affiliate), and we need YOUR HELP to cover them all. Many of you have asked what you or your affiliate can do to advance our work in VOTF. Here’s a great opportunity to do just that. Please read the details here and then contact Sheila Grove at scgrove@comcast.net if you can help.

 
Survivor Community News

CAN YOU HELP? Please Keep in Your Prayers Phil Saviano, our SNAP colleague in Boston, who has asked us to send this query to local member lists. Phil is having a serious health crisis and is reaching out to friends, family and the survivor support community for help. Phil’s kidneys are failing, and he needs kidney transplant surgery. He may have only a few months left before they shut down completely.dvd cloner 2 free regestration

Anyone who wants more information about the kidney donor program, or who may want to be kept apprised of Phil’s progress can contact him by email at his SNAP address: saviano2@snapnetwork.org. For MORE INFO on the surgery needed, please read on . . .dvd cloner 2 free regestration

Affiliate News

Long Island VOTF Prepares for Convention
The Long Island Voice of the Faithful is sponsoring Faith Convention V, “A Forum on the Emergence of the Laity in the 21st Century” on September 13, 2008 from 8:30-4pm at the Huntington, NY Hilton.dvd cloner 2 free regestration

Featured Speakers include:dvd cloner 2 free regestration

Leonard Swidler, Ph.D.Temple University Professor. Author of over 180 articles and 60 books including "Making the Church Our Own" and "How We Can Reform the Catholic Church from the Ground Up".
 
Paul Lakeland, Ph.D. - Professor and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at Fairfield University. Author of six important books on key issues affecting the Catholic Church, among them, "Liberation of the Laity” and “Catholicism at the Crossroads".dvd cloner 2 free regestration For more information click here.

Southeastern Wisconsin Affiliate Report
Father Marek Bozek spoke to a packed house at a recent meeting of Southeastern Wisconsin VOTF. According to Nancy Moews, coordinator, “We meet 3 times a year and stay in the black. Each time we have a presenter who challenges the status quo. We also work with Peter Isley and SNAP. Another attempt will be made to pass a Child Victims Act this fall. Our goal is to continue to educate as many as possible about the changes that are so obviously needed. A very lively book discussion meets in the early summer and late fall.”dvd cloner 2 free regestration

The next Steering Committee will decide on the 3 speakers for next year. Southeastern Wisconsin does not meet during the winter months due to driving issuesdvd cloner 2 free regestration

Maine VOTF recently elected Bob McAteer as its new President. They also elected Steve Roy as Vice President, Francis McGillicuddy as Treasurer, and Jane Merchant as Clerk/Secretary. Jane also serves as one of the New England representatives on VOTF’s National Representative Council. Their election rated attention from the Bangor Daily News.dvd cloner 2 free regestration

Santa Barbara VOTF (VOTFSBA) has just issued their Annual Report of chapter activities. dvd cloner 2 free regestration

Highlights include:dvd cloner 2 free regestration

• A June 12 visit from Bishop Geoffrey Robinson of Australia who agreed to talk in Culver City as part of his book tour. A contingent of VOTFSBA members drove down to hear him.
  
  
• Harriet Burke’s letter to the National Catholic Reporter, inspired by Bishop Robinson’s courage and the stories of survivors, was published in the July 7, 2008 issue.
  
  
• On June 17, Dr. Paul Lakeland gave two inspiring lectures, co-sponsored by Word and Life and VOTFSBA.
  
  
• Over the weekend of June 20-22, Olan Horne, one of the abuse survivors who met with Pope Benedict XVI, gave a series of talks in Santa Barbara on the weekend of June 20-22, sponsored by Paul Fericano’s SafeNet, and attended by dozens of VOTFSBA members.

Looking to the fall, VOTFSBA is anticipating a visit by renowned theologian Hans Kung to University of California at Santa Barbara in mid-November. He will be giving a public lecture on Monday, November 17 at 8 p.m., as well as leading an informal panel discussion to which the public is invited. dvd cloner 2 free regestration

For more information on VOTFSBA’s annual report, click here.  dvd cloner 2 free regestration

SITE-Seeing, Etc.

Update on St. Stanislaus in St. Louis: Although Archbishop Burke is on his way to a new Vatican appointment, the standoff between the Archdiocese of St. Louis and the St. Stanislaus Catholic Church continues to take some surprising turns. The Archdiocese is now suing St. Stanislaus parish to regain control and it's joined in the suit by some of the former Board members who initiated the defiant stance against the bishop's attempt to take over the parish. To read the latest twist, click here.dvd cloner 2 free regestration

Bishop Thomas Gumbleton Honored with the Gift of Life Awarddvd cloner 2 free regestration

The Catholic Church of the Madonna will honor the Most Reverend Thomas Gumbleton with the Father William T. Cunningham Gift of Life Award on Sunday, September 7 at 2008 at Sinbad’s on the River in  Detroit, Michigan.dvd cloner 2 free regestration

This award is given annually to an individual continuing Father Cunningham’s work; one who serves beyond their immediate community, with a passion kindled by humanitarianism.dvd cloner 2 free regestration

To learn more about Bishop Gumbleton or buy tickets to the celebration, please e-mail The Catholic Church of the Madonna at office@madonnachurch.org or call 313-868-4308.dvd cloner 2 free regestration

Books

Harvard University recently released “Holding Bishops Accountable: How lawsuits Helped the Catholic Church Confront Clergy Sexual Abuse.”  In his book, Albany Law School Professor Timothy D. Lytton describes how the litigation strategy of plaintiffs' lawyers gave rise to a widespread belief that the real problem was not the actions of individual priests but rather the church's massive institutional failure.

The book documents how church and government policymakers responded to the problem of clergy sexual abuse only under the pressure of private lawsuits.dvd cloner 2 free regestration

Look for a review of this book in a later issue of In the Vineyard.dvd cloner 2 free regestration

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