National News
Pentecost Sunday
We are marking the birthday of the Catholic Church with a national campaign to encourage lay Catholics to participate fully in rebuilding governance and guidance of the Church at all levels. Click here and you will find a simple guide with ideas for immediate and sustained lay involvement in Church affairs.
We encourage all Voice of the Faithful members to print out these brochures and distribute them to your family, friends and fellow parishioners on Pentecost Sunday.
The future of the early Church depended on the actions of the apostles on that first Pentecost. Now the future of our Church depends on US—the disciples of the 21st century!
How Catholic Sisters Have Changed Our World
A fascinating exhibit is touring the United States. It is about the Catholic Sisters and the role they have played in our country. It is a beautiful and moving exhbit. To learn more follow the link: http://www.womenandspirit.org/
From Our Members
Yakima WA: An Instructive Case History
In the Diocese of Yakima, a priest who had downloaded dozens of pornographic photos of young males was removed secretly, sent off for treatment, and is now being returned to a ministry that reportedly will keep him isolated from teens and children. But the cover-up and subterfuges in the original case remain unacknowledged by the diocese itself and by some of those who both willingly and inadvertently contributed to the original cover-up.
The case report from Robert Fontana, leader of Yakima VOTF, is lengthy. But we think this anatomy of the “slippery slope” down which so many of our pastoral leaders—and quite a few lay people—slid is instructive. Included in the press report is Mr. Fontana’s request that, if Fr. Darell Mitchell is returned to ministry, he first extend a full confession to the parishioners in his original post and then exonerate the lay whistleblower. We at VOTF think that is certainly the least that should be expected.
http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2010/05/10/bishop-approves-return-of-investigated-priest
To read the case report from Robert Fontana, click here.
A Request from Father Tom Doyle
This letter from Ann Thompson is addressed to the pope. Ann lives in New Zealand and as an infant she was placed in Nazareth House Orphanage in Christchurch, New Zealand. During her time at the orphanage she was physically and sexually abused by the nuns and the priests. After 2002 she gathered the courage to reveal her abuse and since has become a courageous advocate for victims and a warrior for justice. Her book, Say Sorry, is one of the most vivid and disturbing accounts I have yet to read. In January she wrote a letter to Pope Benedict. This letter reveals the anguish of Ann and the other victims with whom she shared the horror of her youth. She has asked that it be disseminated widely. – Tom Doyle
Continued: http://votf.org/vineyard/May20_2010/ann.html
Site Seeing
James Carroll’s column in the Boston Globe looks at the cost of celibacy...
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/
articles/2010/05/16/celibacy_and_the_catholic_priest/?page=1
Last weekend the New York Times published an editorial on the fight to lift the statute of limitations for child abuse cases...
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/16/opinion/
16sun2.html?emc=eta1
National Catholic Reporter has an interesting commentary on William Donahue and the National Catholic League...
http://ncronline.org/news/politics/billy-bully-bad-church
Gathering of global women religious
http://ncronline.org/news/women-religious/global-women-religious-gathering-kindles-solidarity-hope
Boston Cardinal Says All Children Welcome in Catholic Schools
One priest decides to turn away a child of a gay couple from a parish school...
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/
articles/2010/05/16/in_the_face_of_prejudice/
But Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley says that decision is “at odds with Gospel teaching,” and will formalize an inclusive policy within the coming weeks.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/
articles/2010/05/16/good_call_by_archdiocese/
Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin, Speaks on the Impact of the Clerical Abuse Scandal on the Church in Ireland
On May 10, the Archbishop of Dublin spoke to the Knights of Columbus on the impact of the clerical abuse scandal on the Church in Ireland.
Continued: http://votf.org/vineyard/May20_2010/martin.html
Ideas from our Members
The Winchester MA affiliate used the following discussion guide to hold a good group discussion at our monthly meeting. When you open the web page, click on "Is There No End" on the right side of the page. You may use whatever you want. The discussion may go in different directions at each table, but people will contribute. We had to stop the meeting at 9:10 and are planning to continue the conversation at some point.
http://www.votfwinchester.org/previousevents.html
Clare Keane
Books
William Powers’ new book Twelve by Twelve: A One Room Cabin Off the Grid & Beyond the American Dream was released this month. Written in the style of a memoir, his book goes beyond the surface, mining the spiritual issues that underlie the secular.
A reading will be held at the Harvard Bookstore at 1256 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, MA on Tuesday, June 15, 2010 at 7pm, where Bill will be signing books.
The memoir is set in a twelve by twelve foot cabin in rural North Carolina, where rushing streams cascading off rocks replace faucets and sinks. As part of a community of organic farmers, bio-fuel brewers and eco-developers who live and work conscientiously with their mind towards the environment, Bill finds inspiration and, in turn, infuses his readers with the compulsion to rise to the challenge. Bill McKibben says of Twelve by Twelve: “Penetrating... It will make you think, hard.
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. |
