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WORKING
GROUPS REPORT
VOTF
Protecting Our Children
Since
May, our core group has met on Tuesday evenings, at the same time
and place as other VOTF Working Groups. Early on, we planned the
presentations and handouts for our session at the July 20th VOTF
Convention. Our speakers, Jetta Bernier and Tim Nichols, provided
leads to the functions on which we now focus. These are as follows:
finding and helping to establish child sexual abuse prevention
programs; sharing with Parish Religious Education Programs, with
parents and with other caregivers, the resources, including speakers,
that we have researched and that have been recommended to us.
Over these months, we have e-mailed notes on our meetings to convention
participants who asked to be kept informed.
The
VOTF Board of Trustees unanimously accepted (9/16) our proposal
to join a group of state and private agencies, the Massachusetts
Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Partnership (MCSAPP), with the focus
on abuse prevention. Early in December, our two delegates met
with other members of the MCSAPP to discuss the nature of the
Partnership, the membership, media relations and plans for a statewide
conference. The two-day conference, scheduled for early in the
spring, will involve parents, teachers and other professionals
working with children. We will be responsible for the logistics
of the conference and will be looking for VOTF colleagues to join
us, working on and attending this important gathering.
At
our most recent meeting, we shared with a representative of the
Structural Change Working Group our frustration at the Archdiocese's
delay (since 10/7/02) in responding to the report of the Commission
for the Protection of Children of the Archdiocese of Boston. We
agreed that the Commission's recommendations should be approved
and implemented immediately.
Our
mission statement and goals appear on the Protecting
Our Children link of the VOTF website. Our e-mail is votfprotect@yahoo.com.
In the Vineyard
Table of Contents
Page One
From the Executive
Director
Working Groups
Voices, Voices
Everywhere!
In
the News
In
Brief
- Linkup asks
for VOTF's support for their Annual
Healing Conference for survivors.
- Please join
the Paulist Center Community as they honor the recipient of the
2003 Isaac Hecker Award for Social Justice, Thomas P. Doyle,
O.P. Canon Lawyer, Chaplain. More
information
- Jesuit Theologian
Bill Clark to Speak in Maine Parishes on "The Role of the Laity
in Today's Church" Fr. Clark to Speak in Saco on Jan. 22 & Calais
on Feb. 2. More
information
- Jayne MacDonald,
Chair of Membership and Recruitment, reports a suggestion from
member Bill Sheehan. Bill proposes that every VOTF member identify
ten contacts - friends, colleagues, extended family - and ask
them personally to visit the VOTF website at www.votf.org. Bill
believes it is bound to grow our numbers, an imperative of future
success.
- Please note
Jim Post's speaking schedule
in the event you are in the area he is visiting and the meeting
is open to the public. Jim would certainly value the support and
the opportunity to meet fellow VOTFers.
- Remarks
by Steve Krueger at Feast of the Epiphany Memorial Vigil.
- Print
out the entire In the Vineyard newsletter to read at
your leisure or distribute to friends who don't have internet.
- Your donations
to VOTF help us maintain our website, assist new affiliates, and
provide regular communication to members and the media. You can
donate
online or mail a donation to us at PO Box 423, Newton, MA
02464. Thanks for your generosity, which has been tremendous.
Please
forward submissions to In the Vineyard to leaderpub@votf.org.
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In the Vineyard
January 2003
Vol 2, Issue 1
Page One
From the Executive Director
Working
Groups
Voices, Voices
Everywhere!
Current VOTF members, please re-register
as part of our database update. New members, please register.
Voice of the Faithful is recognized as one of the most promising
lay organizations to evolve in the Catholic Church. Your support
is absolutely necessary for us to continue. The online
donation form and the mail
in donation form are both quick and easy ways for you to participate,
and we are most grateful.
VOTF™
Mission Statement
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.
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Our Goals
1. To support those who have been abused
2. To support priests of integrity
3. To shape structural change within Church
More
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Pray Each Day
at Noon
Jesus, Lord and Brother, help us with our faithfulness.
Please hear our voice, and let our voice be heard. Amen. More
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