From the Executive Director
Dear Friends,
In the past 12 months, VOTF has grown from a listening session
in a church basement into an organization and a movement with over
25,000 members, 160 affiliates growing at a rate of 100% a year,
a Representative Council, and a national office. We are a community
of mainstream Catholics who seek the inspiration of the Holy Spirit
to build a stronger and healthier Catholic Church, and who support
one another - and the Church itself - in this ambitious and courageous
undertaking.
Many VOTF members and other Catholics are asking questions appropriate
to this formative moment in our young history:
- "What does VOTF offer?"
- "What has VOTF accomplished?"
- "Where is VOTF
going from here?"
- "Who can we become?"
As a strategic planning process is being completed in the coming
weeks, you will be hearing more about the answers to these questions.
For now, allow me to offer some thoughts about these questions:
First, VOTF offers hope - hope for a Church that will heal the
survivors of clergy sexual abuse, priests, and the laity, by "walking
the walk" as well as "talking the talk." VOTF is hope in action
galvanized by a commitment to do something - out of love for our
Church, our God, and one another. Our hope is reinforced by the
reality of our truth.
Second, VOTF offers opportunity and empowerment. As Catholics,
we have learned the significance of one universal Church and the
importance of community. VOTF offers us the opportunity for our
voices to be heard as a community of Catholics who can offer solutions
to the problems confronting our Church. In community with one another
and the Holy Spirit, we are empowered to act according to our conscience,
and to dream of the Church we hope for.
Third, VOTF offers consolation. According to members fortunate
enough to be part of an affiliate, and from individual members seeking
community in VOTF, the hope, opportunity, and empowerment VOTF offers
continually reveals the presence of the Spirit. This revelation
provides survivors, priests, and the entire VOTF community with
the consolation that comes only from God's presence in our lives.
Hope. Opportunity. Empowerment. Consolation. Can you imagine what
your life and relationship to the Church would be like if the VOTF
community did not exist? During this Lenten season, many of us will
reflect on the effect the past year has had on our lives and on
our Church. As we discern where we go from here and who we can become,
it may be helpful to reflect on what we have already given to one
another and to the Church. We invite you to share your reflections
by emailing them to anniversary@votf.org.
Warm regards for a fruitful Lenten season,
Steve Krueger
Executive Director
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