Voice
of the Faithful Focus – A bi-weekly
brief update highlighting both a problem in
our church and
some progress being made as we work together to Keep
the Faith, Change the Church.
Problem:
Bishops’ attempts at scaremongering are intensifying
The
Archbishop of Denver recently wrote “The current
effort to amend the civil statutes of limitations
governing sexual abuse—which really involves
an effort to impose retroactive liability and a new
wave of lawsuits on Catholic communities—will
continue in more states in the coming months. It
could easily decimate the remaining resources of
the Catholic faithful in the United States and steal
the religious future from a generation of Catholic
young people.”* He cites a recent bill in California
that opened a one year window to allow survivors
to file regardless of their age. But he fails to
cite that no dioceses in California have filed for
bankruptcy. Survivors from California came forward
and credibly accused abusive priests were made know
to the public to ensure the safety of children in
those areas. Yet Bishops in several states are fighting
such efforts to ensure justice for survivors in their
dioceses. And to add insult to injury church leaders
are spending untold sums of donations on lawyers
and lobbyists to lead this fight. The ruse of financial
insolvency is resulting in moral bankruptcy within
our church leadership. If you want to do something
about it join our Protecting
Our Children Campaign in your state. (*May Feature
Article in First Things.)
Progress:
Archdiocese of Boston releases detailed financial
audit
Voice
of the Faithful (VOTF) welcomes the publication of
the first annual Financial Transparency Report issued
by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. We are
encouraged by this initiative which may provide a
model of financial accountability for diocese nationwide.
Voice of the Faithful has consistently championed
advocacy for financial transparency and accountability.
We believe lay efforts are a major contributing factor
to the step taken by this archdiocese. VOTF's Campaign
for Financial Accountability provides an essential
opportunity for VOTF members in every diocese to
request similar financial reporting from their church
leaders.
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