California – Santa Barbara
In July of 2005 an article was published in the Santa Barbara CA newspaper that a credibly accused Franciscan Friar was being cared for in the local Franciscan Infirmary which was located within 200 yards of two schools and 100 yards from a Catholic church. The Santa Barbara affiliate joined with other interested members of the parish to protest this to both the Independent Response Team (a board appointed by the Franciscans to investigate allegations of abuse by Friars) as well as the Franciscan Provincial in Oakland, CA. In September they produced recommendations for a new Franciscan Protocol dealing with abusers and sent that document to the Provincial.

In October the Franciscans formally announced a new Protocol which incorporated many of these recommendations. It was also announced that no credibly accused abuser would henceforth be housed in the Santa Barbara facility. Rev Melvin Jurisch, OFM, Provincial Minister for the Oakland Province of Franciscans thanked the VOTF members for their work and acknowledged their contributions in the creation of the Protocol. For more information contact Barbara Herring at bobifish@cox.net

Georgia - Atlanta
When we met with Wilton Gregory, the new Archbishop of Atlanta, in April 2005, he said he was inclined to allow VOTF to meet in "welcoming parishes" and that he would probably bring the subject of VOTF to the archdiocesan Council of Priests. We waited patiently until September, when we wrote to remind him of his words. That same month, he did bring VOTF to the Council, and a committee of two priests was appointed to meet with and learn more about us. We met with the committee in October, the issue was debated at the Council in December, and at the end of that discussion, the Archbishop announced that he would allow VOTF-Atlanta to meet in parishes where we were welcome. He indicated he wanted the pastors to attend the meetings. The first meeting was held Saturday, February 18th at St. Thomas Aquinas parish in Alpharetta, a northern suburb. About twenty-five members attended. Pastor Msgr. David Talley was there, actively participated, and seemed supportive. The survivors present were pleased to finally have an opportunity to meet with a clerical representative of the Archbishop, and pled for counseling and support groups for victims in the area, regardless of where the abuse took place.

Last week our VOTF meeting notice was published in the archdiocesan paper, the Georgia Bulletin, for the first time, and the director of the archdiocesan Office of Child and Youth Protection has agreed to attend our meeting next month. It seems to be a new day in the Archdiocese of Atlanta! If you would like more info, go to our web site.

Massachusetts – Newton

Parish Successfully Fights for their Pastor, for Justice, for Lay Involvement in Decisions and for Financial Transparency

The Problem
The Rev. Walter H. Cuenin was the popular pastor of a vibrant Newton, MA parish until September 2005 when he was abruptly forced to resign by officials from the Archdiocese of Boston. The Archdiocese alleged Fr. Cuenin had received payments from the parish that violated archdiocesan regulations – even though these payments had been approved by the parish’s finance council and pastoral council.

The payments were to lease a Honda Accord for his church-related activities and for the use of visiting priests, payments for his monthly stipend, and for his salary during a sabbatical. These payments exceeded diocesan guidelines, but Fr. Cuenin had given the parish all financial gifts from parishioners for baptisms, weddings and funerals, which he was entitled to keep under the same guidelines.

Lay leaders at the parish, Our Lady’s Help of Christians, were outraged by Fr. Cuenin’s removal. They saw the accusations as ''unfair and unjust." Many believed Fr. Cuenin was being punished for his role as an outspoken leader of priests critical of archdiocesan management and his support for gay rights; the Archdiocese denied that politics played any role.

The Archdiocese did not reassign Fr. Cuenin after his resignation, allowing him to live at a local parish but giving him no permanent assignment. They also brought in as pastor Fr. Chris Coyne, a highly visible press spokesperson for the Archdiocese during the tenure of Cardinal Bernard Law who resigned in disgrace over the clergy sexual abuse scandal in 2002.

Action
Prompted by the action undertaken by the Archdiocese without consulting the parish’s pastoralor finance councils, a group of parishioners, including the parish pastoral and finance councils sprung into action within 24 hours. Many of those who began the organizing were members of Voice of the Faithful and some were not; they were committed to a new goal:to ensure that their beloved pastor was exonerated of all charges and either returned to the parish as pastoror given another meaningful assignment with the possibility of being a pastor again.

• They prayed together, beginning with an all-night vigil in the church during Fr. Cuenin’s last night as pastor, only 24 hours after his forced resignation was publicly announced.
• They organized rallies attended by hundreds of people and covered by local and national media.
• They organized a community meeting for the entire parish.
• They organized a three-mile protest march from the church to the chancery attracting thousands of walkers and untold media coverage.
• They created a website and regular email updates attracting hundreds more to the cause and keeping all informed.
• After Sunday masses,they organized weekly prayer circles on the parish lawn.
• They created a sophisticated public relations program to ensure TV and newspaper coverage of all that they were doing to keep the pressure up.Some formed an organization called Our Lady’s Friends to coordinate action and collect donations to support their work.

They researched canon law and archdiocesan regulations (which they discovered were limited, unclear, and difficult to access). They sent a letter to Archbishop O’Malley with the results of their canon law research, demonstrating numerous instances in which the Archdiocese had, in fact, violated canon law in forcing Fr. Cuenin to resign, and also showing how ambiguous the regulations were that Fr. Cuenin was accused of violating. The letter was also given to members of the press. They pointed out - again in the media - how the Archdiocese had audited the parish previously, seen the payments made to Fr. Cuenin, and yet made no comment or request to change procedures. They showed how the Archdiocesehad blatantly and unfairly failed to work with the parish council and finance council to notify them of financial questions. (I think you are saying the parish pastoral and finance councils, right?)

The parish finance council accessed the report of the Archdiocesan auditors and issued a report showing that the charges were unsubstantiated. The parish pastoral council wrote a letter endorsing the results of the finance council’s investigation.

In their work over a four-month period, the parishioners of Our Lady Help of Christians parish were supported in their efforts by VOTF members who were not parishioners as well as concerned Catholics and non-Catholics from across the Boston area.

Results
Ultimately the laity’s hard work, respectful public protests and relentless media visibility paid off. In January, 2006, Fr.Cuenin was appointed by the Archdiocese of Boston as Catholic chaplain at Brandeis University, a desirable appointment given his longtime interest in Catholic-Jewish relations. The next day it was announced that Fr. Cuenin’s successor, Fr. Coyne, would be leaving Our Lady’s and that parishioners would have input in the selection of their new pastor.

Learn more:
Contact Margaret Roylance at roylances@comcast.net

New Jersey
On Jan. 5, 2006, Governor Richard Codey signed Bill S5540/A2512 into law, retroactively repealing Charitable immunity protections for all institutions which fail to protect our children from sexual predators. The Legislature was clear, Charitable Immunity was never meant to protect institutions over the right of our children to be safe from
sexual abuse.

At a recent celebration of the successful passing of the Amendment of the Charitable Immunity Act, VOTF/NJ was cited as instrumental in helping this to happen. By way of letters to the editors, press conferences and demonstrations at the State House in Trenton, NJ, VOTF has participated with SNAP, HOST and other supportive agencies in the efforts of FixTheLaw.org to push for this legislation. Mark Crawford, Director of FixTheLaw.org held a recognition event on Mar. 25, 2006, honoring the legislators and all those who assisted in moving this bill through to a successful conclusion.

Theresa Padovano
tpadovan@optonline.net

Virginia
As the battle for extensions of SOLs and retroactive “windows” rages in several state legislatures, the Virginia General Assembly, for the fourth consecutive year, considered the “radical proposal” to require clergy to report suspected abuse or neglect of children. The only opposition to this bill was from the Independent Baptists, but for three years they successfully pressured legislators to kill the bill as an intrusion of the state in religious practice, despite an exception for information obtained in sacramental or counseling forums.

Accepting the political realities, a dozen or more members of the Northern Virginia affiliate (along with leaders of the Tidewater Virginia affiliate) put on a full court press to advocate passage of SB 253, in collaboration with the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy and the Virginia Catholic Conference—direct contacts with legislators, with constituents in key districts, a press release to all state newspapers, Op-Ed pieces, etc.

This year, the legislators blinked but they could not swallow their Church/State concerns. As a result, they passed a compromise bill that requires any citizen (in addition to other state-mandated reporters, such as teachers, doctors etc.) to report suspected abuse/neglect of children, provided they have completed training approved by the state Department of Social Services. Without the compromise, the bill was doomed for another defeat. With the compromise, it passed unanimously. The bill now awaits the expected signature of the Governor. The effective date is likely to be July 1, 2006.

Although affiliate members were deeply disappointed that clergy are not specifically mandated to report, they know the outcome is a breakthrough and that they have leverage to push the two Catholic dioceses to train their clergy and become mandated reporters. In fact, the training already received by Catholic clergy under the Charter will most likely satisfy the requirement and the Virginia Council of Churches is expected to call for all Churches to meet the training requirement.

We’re well behind the other states in child protection and survivor justice legislation, but we broke a formidable obstacle nonetheless. For more information contact Bill Casey at b13909@comcast.net

NOTE: We welcome our members and affiliates to send in their success stories to handbook@votf.org, particularly as they relate to our Campaign for Accountability.

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