News From National
Did You Know ...
That Catholics can now recommend candidates for their new bishop via a computer link to the pope’s representative in Washington?
The VOTF web portal for our Bishop Selection project allows any Catholic to record their thoughts about an upcoming vacancy in their diocese and send those ideas directly to the U.S. papal nuncio.
There are currently four U.S. Dioceses without bishops: Alaska, with two vacancies; Lexington, Kentucky, and Burlington, Vermont. Twelve more Dioceses will have bishops reaching retirement age (75) within the next year.
To identify candidates for a diocese, U.S. Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Carlo M. Viganò conducts a confidential search, speaking primarily to other bishops and to selected lay people, most of whom are identified by the bishops. However, Church law encourages all Catholics to express their views on Church matters that concern them, and this includes who their new bishop may be.
VOTF’s web link, www.votf.org/bishop, allows Catholic lay men and women to provide direct input to the apostolic nuncio, who advises the Vatican on bishop selection for the American Catholic Church.
Catholics may record their concerns and recommendations in three key areas: 1.) outstanding needs and opportunities in the diocese; 2.) candidates’ ideal qualities and qualifications; and 3.) priests who would be excellent candidates for their bishop.
The portal brings into the 21st century a lay-consultative process as old as the Church itself. In the early Church, all members of a diocese—clergy and laity, —elected their bishops, and only in 1917 did Church law reserve the appointment of bishops, with few exceptions, to the pope.
Archbishop Viganò has said that all input reaching him from individual Catholics via the web portal will be reviewed and that “serious observations may well be incorporated in the developed confidential process.”
Look for “Voice Matters” in Your Postal Mailbox Soon
To help keep everyone as up-to-date as possible on what VOTF is doing, we publish a twice-yearly postal mail newsletter called Voice Matters in addition to our twice-monthly email newsletter In the Vineyard.
The fall 2014 issue of “Voice Matters” will be mailed right after Labor Day, so look for it in your mailbox along with the tail end of all the back-to-school flyers.
We send Voice Matters primarily for those members who don’t receive our emails, because they are not getting the latest information our email recipients do. But we also send it to some “email members” as a round-up of top In the Vineyard stories for the six months before each issue.
By the way, just in case an article in Voice Matters inspires you to support VOTF with an extra donation, the envelope for each issue also contains a donation slip.
Happy reading!
Focus
Highlighting issues we face working together
to Keep the Faith, Change the Church
Retired priest Fr. James Connell calls upon Pope Francis to investigate Kansas City bishop
“A judge's recent affirmation that the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese pay $1.1 million for breaching abuse settlement terms has led a retired Milwaukee priest (Fr. James Connell) to again request that the pope initiate a penal process investigating Bishop Robert Finn for violations of church law.” By Brian Roewe, National Catholic Reporter
For nuncio accused of abuse, Dominicans want justice at home, not abroad
“The boys say he gave them money to perform sexual acts ... It was only after he was spirited out of the country, the boys say, his picture splashed all over the local news media, that they learned his real identity: Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, the Vatican’s ambassador to the Dominican Republic ... The case is the first time that a top Vatican ambassador, or nuncio — who serves as a personal envoy of the pope — has been accused of sexual abuse of minors ...” By Laurie Goodstein, The New York Times
-- A familiar figure on the Santo Domingo waterfront, By Meridith Kohut for The New York Times
-- Former diplomat who abused children could face extradition, By David Gibson, Religion News Service
-- Ex-diplomat for the Vatican could be tried, By Laurie Goodstein, The New York Times
Kansas City is still waiting for the bishop and Catholic diocese to do the right thing
“But every other conclusion of the arbitrator — upheld last week (week of Aug. 18) by Jackson County Circuit Judge Bryan Round — brought shame to the diocese and provided more than enough reasons for Bishop Robert W. Finn, already convicted of a misdemeanor, to resign.” Editorial in The Kansas City Star
First clergy abuse settlement with archdiocese reached under new law
“More than 40 years after being sexually abused by a Catholic priest in St. Paul, Jon Jaker claimed a groundbreaking victory for himself and other abuse victims Wednesday (Aug. 20). Accompanied by his 84-year-old mother, Jaker, 54, announced he had reached a financial settlement with the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the first payout under a new law that temporarily extends the time in which such clergy abuse lawsuits can be brought to court.” By Jean Hopfensperger, Star Tribune
Top Vatican cleric compares child sex abuse to a trucker molesting a woman
“An Australian cleric handpicked by Pope France to head up a Vatican ministry has compared child sex abuse to a trucker molesting a woman. Cardinal George Pell’s comments have caused outrage across the world after he made comparisons between the Catholic Church’s response to sex abuse to that of a trucking company whose worker is accused of molesting a woman.” By Patrick Counihan, Irish Central
-- George Pell’s logic on child sex abuse is flawed, By Kieran Tapsell, commentary in The Sydney Morning Herald
-- Victims care more about justice than money, By Peta Carlyon, ABC News Australia
-- Cardinal Pell drives further into failure, Editorial in Brisbane Times
-- Cardinal denies MP claim he ignored abuse report, By CathNews.co
Click here to read the rest of this issue of Focus ...
Calendar
The North Shore-Seacoast affiliate of VOTF begins its twelfth season on Sunday, September 21, 2014, at St. John the Baptist Lower Church Hall in Peabody with a presentation by Dr. Brian Robinette, from 7 – 9 PM. The theme for the entire series is The Joy of Evangelization: Calling All Christians.
Dr. Robinette, Associate Professor in the Theology Dept. at Boston College will speak on “God and the Cosmos: The Trinity in an Evolving World. “He will consider the activity of God in a changing world and address some of the challenges and opportunities modern science presents Christian faith. Pope Francis (Evangelii Gaudium) wrote that “dialogue between science and faith also belongs to the world of evangelization at the service of peace.”
Discussion, refreshments, free will offering! For further information call Barbara & John Gould, 978-535-2321 or Carl Greenler 781-690-1307.
WOMEN DEACONS: Why Not Now?
“The Matter Is Not Settled Yet”
Tuesdays, 6:30—8:30 p.m., October 7 and 14 at St. Patrick and St. Anthony, 285 Church St, Hartford, CT (phone 860-756-4034)
Whatever happened to women deacons? In this two‐part series, we will explore this intriguing question by examining the truth of our Tradition in the past. The lives of 5 women deacons will be portrayed and celebrated. We will spend significant time understanding the present status of ordaining women to the diaconate. And we will entertain the hope of women returning to the ordained diaconal ministry in the future. Our knowledge and our voices can make a difference!
Presenters: Members of the Women of Hope Ministry. Free Will Offering
Sacred Threads Speaker Series for 2014-15 is presenting speakers who will explore ways of weaving the threads of integrity, hope, and wisdom into our daily lives. Seating is open, parking is free! Please visit their website and register online at WWW.SACREDTHREADSCENTER.ORG. You also may register by mailing your request to Sacred Threads at 71 Walnut Park, Newton, MA 02458.
So who’s coming to speak?
On Saturday, October 4, 2014, 9:30 – 11:30 am in the Sisters of St. Joseph Chapel, Brighton MA, it’s Janet Eisner, S.N.D., the nation’s longest-serving woman college president; award-winning journalist Lisa Hughes, and D.A. Marian Ryan speaking about “Living with Integrity: Balancing the Public and Private Dimensions of Our Lives.”
Then on Saturday, November 15, 2014, 9:45 am – noon, at Wellesley College in Wellesley MA Joan Chittister, OSB, and Janet McKenzie will talk about “The Way Of The Cross: In and Out of Our Lives.”
The third presentation, April 25, 2015, features Rabbi Rami Shapiro (Sisters of St. Joseph Chapel Brighton, MA, 9:30–11:30 a.m.) on The Heart of Spirituality: Bridging the Wisdom of East and West.
Cost for a subscription to the entire series is $110. Cost for an individual session is $40.
Book Corner
Looking for an inspirational read? Try Tattoos on the Heart, by Father Greg Boyle, SJ, a group of essays about Homeboy Industries, a gang-intervention program located in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, the gang capital of the world. In Tattoos on the Heart, Father Boyle writes about his experience working in the ghetto. The book is a beautiful collection of parables inspired by faith.
America Magazine recently interviewed Father Boyle about his life and work -- http://www.americamagazine.org/content/all-things/saving-gang-members-street-qa-father-greg-boyle-sj
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. |
