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Contact: Jessica Lillie, votfpr@votf.org, (617) 558-5252, (617) 680-2131 cell
For Immediate release
VOTF Calls for Bishops to Seek a Review of Mandated Celibacy
September 22, 2008 – Boston –In a letter to Cardinal Sean O’Malley, Voice of the Faithful (VOTF) urged the bishops in the United States to request a “serious ecclesial review of mandatory celibacy for diocesan priests.” The request stems from a two-year project developed by VOTF’s Priest Support Working Group. The project examines the current state of the priesthood and how the problems faced by priests impact the laity.
Cardinal O’Malley chairs the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). The letter calls on the committee to consider the review in light of a 60% drop in vocations to the priesthood during the past 40 years.
For many young men, the letter notes, “the requirement of celibacy is a major obstacle preventing them from responding to a call to the priesthood.” The solutions currently pursued in response to the reduced number of priests are not sufficient. “Recruiting non-native priests from poor countries, substituting communion services for Mass, lowering standards for admission to seminaries,” and an increase in parish closings and the use of one priest to serve as pastor for multiple parishes fail to address the root of the problem, the letter notes.
The Priest Support Working Group of VOTF hopes to open a dialogue among bishops, priests, and laity that considers both the charism of celibacy – which is a unique gift when it is freely embraced – as well as the negative effects of imposing the discipline
as a requirement for priestly ministry.
For more information about the letter by the Priest Support Working Group or Voice of the Faithful, please email Jessica at votfpr@votf.org or call 617-558-5252
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Press contact
Contact: Jessica Lillie, votfpr@votf.org, (617) 558-5252, (617) 680-2131 cell
About Voice of the Faithful (VOTF): VOTF is a worldwide movement of concerned mainstream Catholics formed in response to the clergy sexual abuse crisis. The group’s mission is to provide a prayerful voice, attentive to the Spirit, through which the Faithful can actively participate in the governance and guidance of the Catholic Church. Its goals are to support survivors of clergy sexual abuse, support priests of integrity, and shape structural change within the Catholic Church in full accordance and harmony with Church teaching.
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