News From National

Convicted Murderer Buried as "Priest in Good Standing"
 In 2006, when Fr. Gerald Robinson was convicted of murdering Sister Margaret Ann Pahl, there was a reasonable assumption that her family and friends would obtain some closure to the painful ordeal, one made all the more painful during the trial when witnesses described steps taken by the diocese of Toledo to stall the original investigation in 1980. Instead, the public (and often laudatory) funeral Mass led last week by the presiding administrator of the diocese, Fr. Charles Ritter, continued the hierarchy's practice of placing a cleric's wishes above the needs of the faithful.

VOTF sent a letter to the diocese in support of those Catholics who think it is ludicrous to call a convicted murderer a "priest in good standing" and then host a public funeral referencing his "burdens" and praising his courage.

You also may be interested in the comments published by Claudia Vercellotti, leader of SNAP in Toledo, who was instrumental in moving this "cold case" towards justice. 

Irish Survivor Releases Text Prepared for July Meeting with Pope Francis
Mark Vincent Healy of Ireland was one of those invited to meet with Pope Francis earlier this week in Rome. In preparation, he wrote a letter summarizing his thoughts and hopes for what the Church will do to help heal survivors and prevent abuse.

Mr. Healy has provided the text of his letter for Pope Francis to Voice of the Faithful, through the services of VOTF-Ireland's Sean O'Conaill. VOTF is pursuing some of the actions Mr. Healy describes in our project for restorative justice as a path to healing and reform.

For additional notes on the meeting itself, you also may be interested in published excerpts from an interview with another survivor at the meeting, Peter Saunders, in The Boston Globe.

Minnesota Cover-Up
The following link contains an hour-long story by the NPR station in Minnesota about the systemic cover-up by three Archbishops (including the current one) over the sexual abuse of children in that diocese over decades—all the while the Archbishops were professing publicly the contrary. Whether one believes the bishops’ claims represent lying, denial, or anything else, the piece demonstrates conclusively what has become the systemic pattern of the Catholic hierarchy’s response to the pervasive evidence of sexual abuse of children by clergy.  Where is the accountability?
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/services/nis/listen/
?name=/minnesota/general/features/2014/07/14/
betrayed_documentary_flash_20140714

SNAP Celebrates 25th Anniversary
SNAP is celebrating their 25th anniversary with a conference in Chicago on August 1 –3. VOTF stands in solidarity with SNAP in support of all survivors and victims of clergy sex abuse. The following was written and read several years ago and was read at a SNAP Lamentation Service. It is reprinted with the author’s permission.

“I was abused by Father Reinecke in Alexandria,VA in the late 60’s ... I stand up here feeling much like the 9 year old I once was, terrified and ashamed. Each statement I am going to share is like individual wound that needs to heal.
I lament for the little girl:
            Who lost her innocence at the age of nine
            Who couldn’t say no
            Who felt dirty and bad
            Who was terrified of going to hell if she told.

[Continue reading ...]

Focus

Highlighting issues we face working together
to Keep the Faith, Change the Church

Pope asks forgiveness from victims of sex abuse
“Pope Francis on Monday (July 7) used his first meeting with victims of clerical sexual abuse to offer his strongest condemnation of a crisis that has shaken the Roman Catholic Church, comparing priests who abuse minors to ‘a sacrilegious cult,’ while begging forgiveness from victims and pledging to crack down on bishops who fail to protect children.” By Jim Yardley, The New York Times
 -- Full text of Pope Francis’ homily during Mass with abuse survivors, On Vatican.va
 -- Pope Francis apologizes to abuse victims, By Andrew Rosenthal, editorial in The New York Times
 -- Pope asks sex abuse victims for forgiveness in three-hour meeting, By Hannah Roberts, The Tablet
 -- Pope meets with sex abuse victims, By Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service, in America magazine
 -- Abuse victim calls meeting Pope Francis a ‘life changing experience,’ By Ines San Martin, The Boston Globe
 -- Pope Francis challenge to Church leaders: don’t be complacent dealing with clerical sexual abuse of minors, By Francesco Cesareo, USCCB Blog
 -- Catholic bishops will be held accountable for not protecting youths, By Michael Pearson, Daniel Burke and Holly Yan, CNN
 -- Catholics divided on Pope’s meeting with victims, By Laura Crimaldi, The Boston Globe

Pope Francis says one in 50 in the Church are pedophiles, including some cardinals and bishops
“Pope Francis has reportedly claimed that ‘pedophilia inside the Church is at the level of two per cent’ and includes ‘priests and even bishops and cardinals.’ In an interview with the Italian newspaper la Repubblica he said that the statistic was provided to him by advisers in the Vatican.” By Hannah Roberts, The Tablet
-- Pope’s estimate on pedophile priests only half of real number, Australian Catholic Church body says, By Jason Om, ABC News Australia
-- ‘One pedophile priest is too much,’ Turcotte says, By La Presse Canadienne in The Montreal Gazette
-- The Pope’s conversation with Salfari and the words Francis never pronounced, By Andrea Tornielli, Vatican Insider, La Stampa

Twin Cities archdiocese ‘far, far from best practice’ on abuse, former chancellor says
“After weeks of depositions from top officials exposing how they handled abusive priests and allegations that arose in the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese, sworn written testimony from a former chancellor pulled back the curtain further to reveal a system ‘far, far from best practice.’” By Brian Roewe, National Catholic Reporter
-- Wistleblower accuses Twin cities archdiocese of host of misdeeds related to clergy abuse, By Emily Gurnon, TwinCities.com, Pioneer Press
-- Lawyer says cover-up of clergy sex abuse continues, By Rachel Zoll, Associated Press, in The Boston Globe
-- Betrayed by Silence, Documentary by Minnesota Public Radio

Affiliate News

Sociologists Address VOTF Meeting
Dr. Patricia Ewick, professor of sociology at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, and Dr. Marc Steinberg, professor of sociology at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, recently shared some reflections on the work they have done studying VOTF over the last seven years. Both sociologists addressed an audience of VOTF members. Following are some excerpts from Dr. Ewick’s speech:

Marc and I thought that we would reflect a bit on our travels with you over the past seven years. What we have learned from you—not what we’ve learned about social movements, or activism, or sociology—but what we’ve learned about life and commitment and hope.

When we began this project we had little more than an inkling that something very important was going on. We—like everyone else in Massachusetts—had been reading about the abuse scandal and the cover-up and that was obviously important, but what was equally important and significant was the response on the part of Catholics. We knew from these accounts that many Catholics remained staunchly, unquestioningly loyal. Many left the church, and for many who had drifted away from the Church over the years, the scandal and cover-up simply confirmed their disaffection and drift.

But among all of the responses, the most intriguing response was the formation of VOTF.  As we’ve said many times before, the group seemed to be an anomaly—here were faithful committed Catholics who were questioning, publically, the role of the Church hierarchy. Here was a group that was made up of people, who didn’t really have a history of social activism, who were holding conventions and marching and demonstrating, and demanding the resignation of the Cardinal.
[Continue reading ...]

Calendar

Criminal Justice Reform Gospel Benefit Concert
On Sunday, July 20th, Saint Susanna Church in Dedham will be hosting a Criminal Justice Reform Gospel Benefit Concert  including Gospel Choirs from several communities in Boston. Our hope is to raise hearts and minds to the issues and realities facing mass incarceration among our black brothers and sisters.

Rev. George Walters–Sleyon who addressed our Peace and Justice / Adult Faith Formation Program this past February on this issue will be co-coordinating this event.

The concert begins at 7:00 PM. A free-will offering will be taken up to support the ministry of the Center for Church and Prison in Dorchester, and refreshment will follow.

Participating choirs include some of Boston’s finest:
Morning Star Baptist Church Choir,  St. Paul; A.M.E. Choir, The Archdiocese of Boston Black Catholic Choir, New Hope Baptist Church Men's Choir, as well as “spirituals” soloist Thelma du Pont.
A full listing of all participating choirs will be forth-coming. Save the date! See the attached flyer for more information.

The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons- Fyodor Dostoevsky
The  Center for Church and Prison is a resource and research center working  towards community revitalization through prison reform- strategic solution development and intervention in the high rate of incarceration and recidivism  especially  for men, women and boys of color in the US prison system. www.churchandprison.org

21st Century Catholics Reclaim Faithful Witness of Mary of Magdala
Organizers worldwide have planned nearly 200 celebrations in 9 countries (Australia, Canada, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Uganda, and United Kingdom) to coincide with the Feast Day of St. Mary of Magdala, July 22nd. This is the 18th year these international celebrations have been held as part of the effort begun by FutureChurch, a national Catholic reform organization based in Cleveland, Ohio.

"St. Mary of Magdala was a foremost leader in the early Church, led the group of women who accompanied Jesus at his death, and first proclaimed the good news of his Resurrection. She was not a prostitute as some believe," said Liz England Program Coordinator at FutureChurch.

The focus of the celebrations around the world will be remembering the St. Mary of Magdala's call to witness the resurrection and her role in announcing this core event of Christianity to the community.

Most Catholics mistakenly believe that Jesus called only men, when in fact Luke 8:1-3 tells us Mary of Magdala, Joanna, Susanna and many other women accompanied him in Galilee. The celebrations this year will provide further knowledge that the church's inclusive ministry was modeled in the first century and it is time to live this ministry in the twenty-first century," England.

More information about local celebrations can be found at: http://futurechurch.org/2014-magdala-celebrations-faithful-witness

... Imagine 
walking it alone

VOTF began in 2002, when widespread clergy sexual abuse and its hierarchical cover-up became highly publicized. Since then, we've supported survivors and continually sought ways to bring justice and healing to them and renewal to our Church.

We're here so they don't have to walk alone.

By contributing to VOTF this summer, you will help continue and broaden VOTF's survivor support work, such as:

• Making available guidelines for reforming statute of limitation laws on civil suits for clergy sexual abuse

• Maintaining and making available Fr. Tom Doyle's extensive bibliography on clergy sexual abuse 

• Sharing Fr. Tom Doyle's VOTF 2014 Assembly workshop presentation, Supporting Survivors: What You Can Do

• Tracking government and academic reports on issues surrounding clergy sexual abuse and making them available

• Standing with SNAP during press conferences and other events to raise awareness of survivors' plight

• Keeping members up-to-date on worldwide news surrounding the abuse scandal through the Focus column in VOTF's twice-monthly In the Vineyard email newsletter

• Writing and distributing statements from VOTF's national office on the abuse and cover-up scandal to our blog, Facebook and Twitter accounts and national media 

Don't let survivors walk alone. Make your heartfelt gift to VOTF today.

Letter to the Editor

A great many--possibly most--of the problems of the Church are due to the exclusion of women, not only from ordination, but also from lay participation in decisions on all levels.  We are told by priests and bishops that men and women are different. That means that excluding women denies the Church the spirituality, the talents, the charisms of half the human population.  This has distorted the Church since its beginnings.  A strong female presence would almost certainly have nipped the pedophilia in the bud.  Women are much more likely to think of the welfare of the children than are older, celibate men.  A major presence of women in various Church structures would also have given priests through the centuries more respect for women and more understanding of the interplay (and I don't just mean sexual) between men and women in the wider world.  Priests and bishops (and even popes) try to avoid women all too often.  This must necessarily warp them in so many ways, although they would probably be scandalized to hear that.  God made us male and female, and it is a heresy to believe that one of those genders, so necessary to each other, must be excluded from the workings of the faith and of the Catholic Church.

Dorothy Carter
Lexington KY 40502

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.