 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
Welcome
to our latest effort to improve communications! Besides
streamlining page one and shortening the overall content,
we will be publishing
the Vineyard twice monthly - beginning this month,
you will receive the Vineyard every other Thursday
but not more than twice in a calendar month. The next issue
will be posted on August 25. Comments are welcome, as always,
at pthorp.ed@votf.org |
| |
- Convocation
speeches and working group material are on our web
site; excellent Convocation coverage
in audio and video tapes, CDs and DVDs is available
at www.resurrectiontapes.com;
and add this Convocation vignette to your Convocation
memories - where was Aimee Hairamimi on Friday night
of the Convocation weekend? (See the hard-copy July
29 issue of National Catholic Reporter commentary
on the Indianapolis Convocation and VOTF’s Many Hands
Many Hearts initiative.)
- A
national model for working with your state legislature
is emerging in Boston, MA. See Regional News for
activity around the Sen. Marian Walsh bill and watch
future issues of the Vineyard for more details
on the “how” from interim press manager John Moynihan.
- VOTF
vice president Kris Ward is looking ahead to the
November USCCB meeting and reports that Task Force
for the Charter for the Protection of Children and
Young People is back at work.
- A
brief update from VOTF Executive Director Ray Joyce
on office changes; office volunteer opportunities
abound! Contact Ruth Kiley at rkiley@votf.org
- Note: “Twist
of Faith” – the Academy Award-nominated documentary
is the powerful story of Tony Comes, a firefighter
from Toledo, Ohio, who confronts the trauma of boyhood
sexual abuse by a Catholic priest. This film may
be coming to your area soon. Check out the schedule.
Sunday
October 23, 2005. Regional event with far-reaching
implications: The Boston College initiative “Church
in the 21st Century” is sponsoring a presentation
of a study of Voice of the Faithful. Details under
Regional News/Calendar Notes and at the BC web site. |
| |
- Massachusetts
State Sen. Marian Walsh is making history on Beacon
Hill as author of legislation that would require
the Church to open its books. Boston Area VOTF members
were among the panelists who spoke at the hearing
yesterday. See the bill’s summary, links to recent
coverage and a list of VOTF participants.
- Fr.
Bob Bowers honored by many for S/spirited leadership
when it was needed most.
- CALENDAR
Notes: Seacoast Affiliates, MA continue their Faith
Formation series in collaboration with Boston College;
VOTF Upper Falmouth, Cape Cod, MA is planning for
a future with fewer priests – their panel discussion
is open to all; Boston College “Church in the 21st
Century” presents “Voice of the Faithful: Findings
from a Study of a Social Movement within the Catholic
Church.”
- East
Lyme, CT VOTFers do not find a “Christian imperative” in
their bishop’s non-response to the sexual abuse crisis,
so lay people have moved to Plan B – going public
in their New London, CT newspaper; VOTF Winchester’s
survivor support initiative is back with a selection
of Christmas cards – if you didn’t pick them up at
the Convocation, you can order them now; the VOTF
Cincinnati DVD that impressed so many in Indianapolis
is available for purchase; VOTF Spokane, WA’s hard
work is paying off – in their State House.
- No
grass will grow beneath the feet of VOTFers in Bridgeport,
CT. They have taken a convocation idea and are “running” with
it.
- The
death of a priest by suicide in Wisconsin shatters
a community.
- Archbishop
Levada of San Francisco, CA was preparing to leave
San Francisco for his new post when he was served
a subpoena.
- A
group of Maine VOTFers reports on a recent initiative.
|
| |
Next
issue: Council reports on their work since
the Convocation; what new, parish connection emerged
in Indianapolis?; update on the VOTF Boston, MA presence
at the Boston State House judiciary hearings on August
10; a new spin on lay accountability – a Donut
Rebellion!!?? and VOTF Maine reports on their meeting
with Bishop Malone
|
|
| For an overview of press coverage of
VOTF, click
here. |
|
As readers
of In the Vineyard know, many VOTF affiliate members
and VOTF members “at large” have spent the last three years
pursuing various goal-related initiatives. These include revision
or elimination of statutes of limitation that have hobbled
justice for survivors; opening dialogue with diocesan leadership;
and establishing a substantive place for the laity in the guidance
and governance of our Church on the parish and the diocesan
levels. In this and the 8/25 issue, you will see measurable
progress in all of these VOTF efforts: VOTF Maine has had a
promising meeting with Bishop Malone; VOTF Brooklyn, NY reports
meaningful change in their diocese with a “previously hostile
bishop”; it took three years but VOTF Spokane, WA has made
strides in their lobbying effort for sexual abuse legislation – a
mandatory reporting law is now in effect; in Tampa Bay,
Florida, VOTF affiliate members successfully lobbied their
bishop
to create, for the first time, a Diocesan Pastoral Council,
to
publish financial audits, and to require that parish council
meetings are open to non-members; and Boston VOTF is playing
a major role in the Massachusetts Senate judiciary hearings
on a bill that would alter the way religious organizations
share financial information.
And already,
an affiliate has taken up a Convocation message, the affiliate’s
board has approved a plan, and action is under way. Tony Wiggins
reports for VOTF Bridgeport, CT under Regional News.
The Vineyard has
documented clearly at least two facts in nearly three years
of publishing: Our work is of the long-haul variety AND there
is always good news, mixed in with the setbacks and
intransigencies of particular situations. It is vital for all
of the workers “in the vineyard,” as well as our thousands
of readers, to hear the positive. Please continue to share
your progress, no matter how small it may seem to you – in
the case of Church reform, we will trumpet the smallest rising
tide! Send your comments, inquiries, and news to pthorp.ed@votf.org and
please know in advance how very much your correspondence means
to all of us.
PLT
|
| ©Voice
of the Faithful 2005.All Rights Reserved |
|
|
|
|
|