News From National

An Open Letter from the People of God to U.S. Bishops
VOTF encourages members to join with FutureChurch supporters and ask U.S. bishops to open a dialogue "about restoring our early traditions of married and celibate priests and male and female deacons."

In an open letter to U.S. bishops,FutureChurch urges bishops "to discern the needs of all the people of God and to listen to Pope Francis' call for courage in realizing reforms that will bring new vitality to Eucharistic communities."

Please join this effort by clicking here to send your bishop a copy of the letter.

Let your bishop hear your Spirit-filled voice and help us change the Church.

What Happened to the Responses to the Synod on the Family?

Many VOTF members, along with a number of other Catholic groups, sent in responses to the USCCB for the upcoming Synod of Bishops on the Family.

As a companion effort to the U.S. questionnaire distributed by dioceses, Voice of the Faithful joined other groups in the association Catholic Organizations for Renewal (COR) to host an online questionnaire. Results from that compilation were sent to Rome in December. A complete report is now available online.

Read more from Sister Christine Schenk from FutureChurch

Here are links to the reports made available online:

Germany
Japan
St. Petersburg FL
Independent COR-sponsored questionnaire

Priests Raising their Voices

In recent weeks, priests in the U.S. and abroad have begun raising their voices on issues they feel are adversely affecting the Church. Here are just a few examples:

Priests Criticize Head of Doctrinal Congregation for Rebuke of LCWR
“The Association of U.S. Catholic Priests in a letter to Pope Francis criticized the head of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for his recent comments chastising the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. The Seattle-based association, which claims 1,000 U.S. priests as members, focused its letter to the pope on comments made by the congregation's prefect, German Cardinal Gerhard Müller, in an April 30 welcoming address to LCWR leadership.” By Catholic News Service in National Catholic Reporter

Priests’ Letter to Nuncio Denounces Venice, Fla., Bishop
“A group of 10 priests in the diocese of Venice, Fla., describing what they said had become an ‘intolerable’ situation, took the highly unusual step earlier this year of composing a letter severely critical of their bishop, Frank Dewane, and sending it to the pope's representative in the United States. The letter, addressed to Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the papal nuncio, accuses Dewane of ignoring or violating canon law, abandoning consultative processes and ruling by ‘intimidation, the use of fear, shaming, bullying and other non-Christian behaviors.’” By Tom Roberts, National Catholic Reporter

Priests Make Radical Proposals on Vocations Crisis to Bishops
“A group representing Irish priests has called for radical measures to be taken by the Catholic bishops to address the current vocations crisis in the Church. At a meeting in Maynooth with three bishops, representing the Irish Episcopal Conference, the priests called for the ordination of ‘suitable married men (viri probati),’ for men who left the priesthood to marry, to be invited back and for the ordination of women to the permanent diaconate.” By Patsy McGarry, Irish Times
-- Priests Warn that Church Will ‘Implode’ If It Doesn’t Start Ordaining Women, By The Journal
-- Female Clergy and Married Priests May Be Needed to Plug Vocations Gap, By Sarah MacDonald, Irish Independent

Focus

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

Bishops Talk Sex Abuse Complacency, Not Accountability at Annual Meeting
“Urged not to get complacent on clergy sexual abuse of minors, the nation's Catholic bishops spoke little of holding one another accountable for failures in protecting children at their annual spring meeting.” By Brian Roewe and Joshua J. McElwee, National Catholic Reporter

St. Louis Archbishop Claims to Be Uncertain If He Knew Sexual Abuse Was a Crime
“Archbishop Robert J. Carlson claimed to be uncertain that he knew sexual abuse of a child by a priest constituted a crime when he was auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, according to a deposition released Monday (June 9). During the deposition taken last month, attorney Jeff Anderson asked Carlson whether he knew it was a crime for an adult to engage in sex with a child. ‘I’m not sure whether I knew it was a crime or not,’ Carlson replied. ‘I understand today it’s a crime.’” By Lilly Fowler, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
-- Archbishop Sparks Controversy on Fifth Anniversary in St. Louis, By Lilly Fowler, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
-- Archbishop Carlson Has Some Troubling Memory Lapses, Editorial in St. Louis Post-Dispatch
-- From Former Twin Cities Bishop: 193 ‘Don’t Recalls,’ By Emily Gurnon, Pioneer Press
-- Some St. Louis Catholics, Sex Abuse Victims Plan Protest Today over Carlson’s Deposition, By St. Louis Post-Dispatch
-- Archbishop Carlson, Don’t Insult Our Intelligence, By Phil Lawler, CatholicCulture.org

Catholic Church Can’t Claim Priest Was ‘Off Duty’
“In a case of flawless logic, the Catholic Church’s lawyers have discovered a magical loophole that absolves the church of legal responsibility for crimes committed by its priests: a holy punch clock.” Editorial by The Star-Ledger
-- When Is a Priest Not a Priest? When He’s Molesting a Child, Diocese Says in Defense of Lawsuit, By Mark Mueller, The Star Ledger

Click here to read the rest of this issue of Focus ...

Sisters on the Margins

There has been much conversation about the work of nuns, both in the United States and abroad. It is important to remember all they do.

Letter to the Editor

I hope VOTF will continue to follow the ongoing results of the Vatican’s investigation of the LCWR. This week’s news from the meeting in Rome was interesting in that there seemed to be no further mention of “radical feminism” or of what the nuns are NOT talking about; instead, the focus was on nondoctrinal content in speeches, papers, and their honoree’s book Quest for a Living God. I’m not familiar with that book or the concept of Conscious Evolution that the CDF thinks is leading the sisters to a heretical position, but I’d like to know what all the fuss is about and would be glad to hear from VOTF on it.

Peace,
M.  J.

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.