News From National

VOTF Action for Our Priests ...
How much more successful would we be if we gained momentum for change among those closest to the people: the parish priests? Many of you have spoken with priests who “behind the scenes” support renewal and reform but who for many reasons hesitate to openly support such initiatives. As evidenced by new associations forming in Europe and in the U.S., more and more priests are, like we who were long-silent laity, finding their voices.

Dan Bartley, VOTF President, asked himself after the ACC in Detroit, “How can we encourage this ferment?” His answer—and his request to you—went out via email last week: Let’s see if we can put a DVD about the inspirational opening ceremony at ACC in the hands of every parish priest and bishop? You can read more about that request here, and see how you can help us bring renewal to their doorsteps.     http://votf.org/page/spread-inspiration/17826

We have our raffle winners!
Thanks to everyone who supported our book raffle during August. Your generosity is most appreciated.

The raffle was a great success, and we have selected at random two winners. One winner is Cecilia Furlotte of Ipswich, Massachusetts, and we are in the process of contacting the second winner. Each winner will receive copies of three books, and each book is autographed by the author: Faithful Revolution: How Voice of the Faithful Is Changing the Church; The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See; and Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God.
If you missed the raffle, but like to read and would like to support VOTF while doing so, visit our website book page.

When you click through to Amazon using one of the book links on the page and buy the book, VOTF receives part of the proceeds.

Happy reading!

Focus Moves to In the Vineyard
Considering your time and the number of e-mails we expect you to read, we’ve decided to make a change. Beginning Oct. 6, Focus will merge into In the Vineyard’s “Site-Seeing” column. “Site-Seeing” like Focus, gathers important news for you from around the world, so you’ll still receive the Focus information, just not in a separate e-mail newsletter. This move will allow us to continue to highlight issues we face working together to Keep the Faith, Change the Church, and you’ll have two fewer e-mails to read each month. We hope you like the change.

Emily & Rosemary Fund for Women: Application Deadline Oct. 1
The Emily & Rosemary Fund for Women in the Church will be making another round of awards this winter. The deadline for completed applications is October 1.
You can learn more about the Fund and find grant applications here. Please note the purpose of the Fund and be sure your application falls within those criteria.

Update on the New Missal
After more than a year of objection and resistance from English-speaking Catholics, including several bishops and many liturgists and translators, the Vatican has imposed its new translation of the Missal for regions where English is the predominant language.

Many of you also are familiar with the various opposition efforts, letters, and petitions developed internationally in an attempt to halt or at least delay the implementation. Some groups hope to continue the objections. If you would like to voice your thoughts on the topic, please contact Kevin Connors.
There are many resources for those who must adopt the new Missal and make the changes necessary for it. The following sites provide information on the changes themselves as well as a few thoughts on the utility of the new translation.

Liturgy Training Publications and OCP (Oregon Catholic Press), which both sell music, worship aids, and related services, have  a variety of resources and descriptions on their web sites.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has several web pages devoted to the changes, including one that provides a side-by-side comparison with commentaries on the old versus new language, and another that gives you a printable PDF of the changes in the words the people say.

An article in Commonweal magazine summarizes many of the concerns about the awkward translations, and a blog post by Jesuit Bernard Lee explores the difference between "literal" and "literary" language.

You can watch a video by another Jesuit, John Baldovin, who describes the history of various translations (fair warning: it's mostly a "talking head" experience).

You also may find interesting some observations by David Haas, a noted composer of liturgical music who is well-known as a conference and workshop speaker, consultant, concert performer, and recording artist.

News from SNAP
SNAP leaders from Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands and the US asked the International Criminal Court to investigate and prosecute top Catholic officials for enabling and concealing "widespread and systematic" sexual violence against countless children and vulnerable adults.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2011/0915/Why-the-ICC-likely-won-t-charge-pope-over-Catholic-Church-sex-abuses

For more info from SNAP http://www.snapnetwork.org/

Site Seeing

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.