In the Vineyard :: January 28, 2010 :: Volume 9, Issue 2

News from National

Prayer for Those in Haiti
Good and Gracious God, send strength and fortitude to the survivors of the Haitian earthquake and all who are assisting them.  And send peace and comfort to all those who have lost loved ones.

Catholic Relief Services has set up a website for donations to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. If you are interested in helping out, please follow the link https://secure.crs.org/site/Donation2?df_id=3181&
3181.donation=form1


VOTF 2010 Election Campaign Has Begun

The following people have been nominated for national office in the 2010 National Officer Elections: Dan Bartley, Gaile Pohlhaus, Janet Hauter, Nick Mazza, Anne Southwood and Kevin Connors.

The election campaign will end on Monday, February 8, 2010, when the voting period opens. Voting will be open for two weeks, ending at 12 noon on Monday, February 22, 2010. The results of the election will be announced on Wednesday, February 24, 2010, and the newly elected officers will take office on March 15, 2010.

During the campaign, there are several ways for VOTF members to get to know the candidates and discuss the issues:

For more information
http://votf.org/candidates


Update on Ireland

Clerical Sexual Abuse in Ireland has Roots in the Vatican
Sean O’Conaill is the acting coordinator for Voice of the Faithful in Ireland. He is a former history professor and a published writer from Coleraine, Northern Ireland.

The pre-Christmas season in Ireland was dominated for Catholics by a revelation of the total failure of four Archbishops of Dublin, and of their auxiliaries, to protect defenseless children - over three decades.

The Irish government‘s Murphy report of November 26 was based only upon a sample of sexual abuse cases, so the full scale of the Dublin horror will never be known.

Even so, the Irish Catholic Bishops Conference felt compelled to utter a stark summary of the Irish situation on December 9th. They said that the cover-up revealed in the Murphy report “indicates a culture that was widespread in the Church.”

Continued
http://votf.org/vineyard/Jan28_2010/ireland.html


VOTF Ireland statement on the pending papal pastoral letter to Ireland - 21st Jan, 2010
The moral authority of the papacy in Ireland, and of Catholic bishops here, is likely to collapse if the promised papal pastoral letter to Ireland does not squarely address the issue of the widespread cover up by bishops of the outrage of clerical child sexual abuse.

Continued
http://votf.org/vineyard/Jan28_2010/ireland2.html


The Winchester Area VOTF recently celebrated a prayer service for the Irish victims. If you are interested in using it at your own meetings, the service can be found at
http://www.votfwinchester.org/prayerfulvoice.html below the graphic.


Voices in Action

News from Spiritual and Communal Growth
The Spiritual and Communal Growth Team would like to make VOTF members aware of the central value of Centering Prayer in our time. At the Long Island Conference, Fr. Donald Cozzens encouraged VOTF to begin all meetings with at least five minutes of silence, in which each participant could center her/himself on the presence of God within.

Tom Connolly, a member of the SCG Team, is a practitioner of Centering Prayer and would like to make himself available to affiliates and others, especially the abused and their relatives, to foster the use of Centering Prayer in these tumultuous times. A victim of clerical sexual abuse himself, Tom is an authorized presenter of centering prayer workshops and retreats. He can be contacted at tconnoll@comcast.net. Below is Tom's statement about Centering Prayer.

“Centering prayer is perhaps the best known method of Christian meditation in our time. It is a renewal of one of the most honored and most ancient of all Christian prayer traditions, founded upon the Indwelling Trinity at the center of our being who calls us into profound and intimate relationship. Through the daily practice of this prayer we are transformed in Christ, and healed at the deepest spiritual level. The Spiritual and Communal Growth Team of VOTF can introduce interested parties to this prayer, above all the abused themselves, their relatives, and those confused about the significance of this tragic crisis. For further information visit www.contemplativeoutreach.org .”


National Working Groups

Priest of Integrity Nominee

This issue of In the Vineyard focuses on Reverend Patrick J. Brennan and the work he is doing for others and for the good of our church. Reverend Brennan was nominated by Chicagoland VOTF with great enthusiasm and support for his dedication as a Servant Leader to the people he has served throughout his years of priesthood. 

In addition to his last role as pastor at Holy Family Catholic Community in Inverness, IL and priest in residence at St. Thomas the Apostle, Naperville, IL, he is the Director of Mission Integration and Pastoral Care at The Clare, a retirement residence in downtown Chicago, President of the National Center for Evangelization and Parish Renewal, and a Therapist with a PhD in Psychology.

Rev. Brennan is the driving force behind Small Christian Communities where the laity is challenged to live their Baptismal promises to function as priest, prophet, and king. He is renowned for his gift of preaching, which draws Catholics from 90 surrounding communities. He encourages mature, conscience-inspired responses to the Gospel message in moral decisions, regardless of the consequences. He has boldly confronted injustice in the systems and institutions of the church and the world, including the mishandling of the clergy abuse scandal. 

In recognition of Rev.Brennan’s faithful dedication to the People of God, we give thanks for the encouragement and challenge that he has given us by his faithful dedication. Reverend Patrick J. Brennan is a priest worthy of our admiration.


Site Seeing

The head of the Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy, Cardinal Claudio Hummes, says incidents of sexual abuse should be handled by civil authorities as well as church authorities...
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/
signs.cfm?signid=325&comments=1#readcomments


Father Richard McBrien writes about  what effective leadership looks like...
http://ncronline.org/blogs/essays-theology/
what-effective-leadership-looks


The Patriot Ledger reports on VOTF Scituate and  VOTF’s history...
http://www.patriotledger.com/news/x231951164/
Eight-years-later-Voice-of-the-Faithful-still-talking


The Windsor Star reports on the situation in Ireland...
http://www.windsorstar.com/news/Irish+bishops+
welcome+Vatican+child+abuse+summit+plan/2473710/
story.html


Irish bishops to meet in advance of pastoral letter from Pope...
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0119/abuse.html


The Irish Examiner reports on the situation in Ireland...
http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/
bishops-hold-talks-after-sex-abuse-report-443053.html


The Irish Independent reports on the “bunker talks” that Ireland’s bishops are engaged in...
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/
john-cooney-bishops-use-bunker-talks-to-devise-deeply-flawed-strategy-2029998.html


Here is a link to an interesting blog by C21 acting director John McGinty...What kind of response should we make to the situation in Ireland?
https://share.bc.edu/117/17630


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.


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