National News

VOTF Forms New Advisory Council
Voice of the Faithful has formed its first advisory council to help the organization chart its course into the future. Chair of VOTF’s Board of Trustees, Elia Marnik, said VOTF is at the point where input from highly regarded experts in areas like theology and church history can help the organization greatly in facing the challenges and opportunities presented to it as the organization enters its second decade.

Advisory Council members include:

• Francine Cardman, Associate Professor of Historical Theology and Church History, Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, Boston, Mass.

• William D'Antonio, Ph.D., Fellow, Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies, The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.

• Paul Lakeland, Ph.D., Aloysius P. Kelley S.J. Professor of Catholic Studies, and Director, Center for Catholic Studies, Fairfield University, Fairfield, Conn.

• James E. Post, Ph.D., J.D., John F. Smith Jr. Professor in Management, Boston University School of Management, Boston, Mass., and VOTF co-founder and former president

• Christine Schenk, csj, FutureChurch Executive Director and theologian

Read more by clicking here.

Voice of the Faithful’s Emily & Rosemary Fund
Awards $15,500 in Grants During Second Round
Three women who reported losing employment because of discrimination are sharing $15,500 in grants awarded during the second round of granting by Voice of the Faithful’s Emily & Rosemary Fund for Women in the Church.

Applications for the third round of grants are available at http://votf.org/14218 and must be submitted by March 1, 2011.

The second-round grantees are Paula Beaton of Corpus Christi, Texas, who received a $3,000 grant; Cathy Roldan of Vista, Calif., $5,000; and Keisha Veryser of Charlevoix, Mich., $7,500.

Lynnette Petruska, formerly a Roman Catholic nun and now a St. Louis attorney, established the fund in 2009 to support women who lose employment in the Roman Catholic Church as a result of injustice or discrimination and to help women who are working to bring about justice and equality in the Church.

More information about the second-round grant recipients will be distributed soon and will be available on VOTF’s website at http://votf.org/14218

Vatican II was the largest Council in Church history and, as a result, the most representative. Although Italy had the largest delegation among the 2,540 participants, the U.S. was second in size (241 participants) and bishops from Asia and Africa played prominent roles in Council deliberations. More than 87% of the “Council Fathers” eligible to attend, did attend.

Bearing Witness in Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia is hearing testimony on proposed legislation that would increase the state’s Statute of Limitations from 2 years to 25. Child Protection and Survivor Support committee member Bill Casey of Alexandria, VA attended the hearings with several friends who are survivors of sexual abuse as minors. We invite you to read about their experiences, as they spoke in favor of the proposed legislation; SB 1145:

AP story on Senate Subcommittee Hearing on 1/27/11:
http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/
Bills-would-give-more-time-to-sue-over-sex-abuse-980965.php

We encourage you to post your comments on the CPSS Forum, found by visiting www.votf.org. Click on Child Protection and Survivor Support (in the left hand margin); scroll down to and click on “What you can do.”

"Wayne’s witness was an act of courage,” remarked Bill Casey.

Also read Bill's statements, made on behalf of Voice of the Faithful. Bill is currently serving his fifth year as a national VOTF trustee.

AP story on Wayne Dorough:
http://www.valleynewslive.com/Global/
story.asp?S=13932230&clienttype=printable

Of related interest, meet three of these brave survivors as they share their stories of sexual abuse in a Laurel, MD public access television interview, “Coming Out of the Shadows of Sexual Abuse,” hosted by Bill Casey.

Three points that CPSS and VOTF wish to stress are:

• Survivors/Victims want to tell their stories - they need to be heard.

• Survivors want to see their abusers brought to justice and ensure that other children will be protected.

• Many organizations, such as VOTF, and individuals, support survivors/victims in meaningful, supportive ways.

Bill Casey’s statement to the Virginia legislature

Site Seeing

John Allen discusses changes percolating at the Vatican
http://ncronline.org/blogs/all-things-catholic/inductions-money-religious-freedom-and-polarization

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof sees parallels between the nuns at St Joseph’s Hospital and Jesus. So what does that make Bishop Olmstead?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/27/opinion/27kristof.html

Sainthood for Pope John Paul II?
http://ncronline.org/news/vatican/some-question-speed-john-paul-ii%E2%80%99s-beatification

Letter to the Editor

Where, oh where, is Papa Giovanni? On a recent trip to Rome, I wanted to buy a medal or a bust of Pope John XXIII—and he seems to be the forgotten pope. I visited every single gift shop in the Vatican Museum to no avail. After much searching, I finally found one nearby religious goods store with very nice busts; one sits on my desk as I write this.

Roman and Vatican shops sell every sort of souvenir of John Paul II and of Benedict XVI, but Pope John seems to be ignored. This comes at a time when far too many Catholics, including many in the hierarchy, are trying to dilute or even destroy his legacy. At first, we were hearing that “many of the reforms of Vatican II have been misinterpreted--we must correct them.” Then there were calls for “reform of the reforms.” And recently, I read online the ultimate argument, which I fear is on the agenda of some of the most conservative Catholics: Vatican II was a “pastoral, not a dogmatic council”—whatever that means—and poor John XXIII was subjected to extreme pressure by “Cafeteria Catholics” to make pronouncements that were not what the Holy Spirit wished.

What a dangerous point of view! These ideas are held by many of the same people who argue that whatever a pope says is automatically infallible. I guess that depends on which pope is being quoted.

The window that Pope John threw open is being slammed shut, and the role of the laity is being cut back once more. We are, it seems, to return to the 1950’s, a period in which the vast majority of the pedophile priests were educated in seminaries that systematically stunted their maturity, a period in which the laity were to keep quiet and accept any ruling from the clergy. I find some comfort in the sight of my little statue of Pope John and hope that he is up there agitating on behalf of his legacy despite the attempts to ignore it, and him, here on earth.

Dorothy Carter
Lexington

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.