By
Jay Lindsay, Associated Press, 10/27/02
BOSTON
-- It's small, stealthy and exists to expose what it says is the hidden agenda of
a prominent group of lay Catholics that formed in response to the church's sex
abuse scandal.
Even the name -- Faithful Voice -- is
designed to counter Voice of the Faithful, as organizers hope the similarities
redirect Internet browsers to their Web site.
Faithful Voice, which counts 50
members, covertly attends as many Voice meetings as possible. They've papered
windshields with pamphlets and aren't shy about approaching parishioners and
church officials to share their view.
Their fervor rises from a conviction
that 25,000-member Voice of the Faithful isn't trying to help the Catholic
Church through the scandal. Instead, it believes the nationwide organization,
which was born in response to the sex abuse crisis, wants to undermine the
Church by changing its fundamental theology.
"They're taking advantage of the
chaos to get their rules in," said Faithful Voice spokeswoman Carol
McKinley.
Faithful Voice, though small, has
had an effect.
Voice spokesman Mike Emerton blames the
group for influencing Bishop Emilio Allue, regional bishop for the Merrimack
Valley, to ban a Voice chapter from meeting in a North Andover parish.
"(Faithful Voice) continues to
misinterpret what we say," Emerton said. "They flatly refuse to
believe our stated missions and goals."
Voice of the Faithful fully backs the
church's doctrinal teachings, he said. What it questions are some manmade
rules, such as those that prevent lay people from knowing where their donations
go or the backgrounds of priests assigned to their parishes. Voice's aims are
to support good priests and increase the laity involvement in church
governance, as laid out in Vatican II reforms of 1962, Emerton said.
The groups are trying to work out
differences. North Andover's Voice chapter arranged an Oct. 30 meeting between
some of its members and Faithful Voice members, to be moderated by the Rev.
Robert McMillan, the Boston archdiocese's planning and research director.
John Cronin, a founder of Faithful
Voice, said he's not sure a meeting will accomplish much.
"It's good that we're talking, but
if they expect we're going to change, it's not going to be good," Cronin
said.
Archdiocese spokeswoman Donna Morrissey
said she wasn't familiar with Faithful Voice, but she said the archdiocese generally
supports the open dialogue such lay groups promote.
Cardinal Bernard Law has yet to meet
with Voice of the Faithful, though the group has long sought a meeting.
Russell Shaw, a former spokesman for
the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said he believes lay people can be a
positive force for change in the church, but he's been discouraged by how lay
groups have developed in Boston.
"It's more confrontation, more
divisiveness. ... (Faithful Voice) is cast in the role as the conservative answer
to the liberals," he said. "We need a fresh start in Boston, and
everywhere else."
Faithful Voice started on a July
afternoon when Cronin and two others put pamphlets on windshields at St.
Michael's Parish in North Andover around the time a Voice of the Faithful
chapter was forming there. Word of the new group soon spread.
Faithful Voice members began attending
Voice of the Faithful meetings around the state, some keeping their affiliation
a secret. Those that spoke out have been greeted with boos and hisses, McKinley
said. But Emerton said Faithful Voice is causing disruptions with its ambush
strategy.
"That's some of the guerrilla
tactics they're using to spread false information about Voice of the
Faithful," he said.
Faithful Voice maintains Voice of the
Faithful intends to overhaul traditional church teachings on subjects such as
abortion, celibacy for priests and homosexuality by pointing to people who
support or are associated with the group:
-- Leonard Swidler, a professor of
Catholic thought at Temple University. Voice has said it might consult Swidler
to draw up its constitution. Swidler has been instrumental in crafting a
separate "Constitution of the Catholic Church," which promotes, among
other things, the right of priests to marry and urges Catholics to "follow
their informed consciences in all matters," as opposed to church
teachings.
-- Larry Kessler, the openly gay
executive director of the AIDS Action Committee, is on the Voice of the
Faithful steering committee, leading Faithful Voice to question the other
group's commitment to church teaching that homosexual acts are sinful.
-- Debra Haffner, a former official in
the abortion rights group Planned Parenthood, spoke at Voice of the Faithful's
summer convention, though the Catholic church is against abortion.
One of Voice of the Faithful's founders
is Janice Leary, who is associated with the group Call to Action, which
promotes priestly ordination for women and homosexuals.
McKinley said the roster shows Voice of
the Faithful is made up of dissidents. Most lay people in the group are good
Catholics who don't know what the group is really about, and Faithful Voice
exists to tell them, she said.
"Voice of the Faithful wants the
doctrine to come from the people and go up to God," she said. "No.
Doctrine comes from God and you accept it."
Leary, who won't refer to Faithful
Voice by its name, instead calling it "Unfaithful Verbiage," said she
supports Voice of the Faithful because it's committed to increasing lay
involvement in church affairs.
The group doesn't share her views in
other areas, and she doesn't expect it to change, Leary said.
"I'm just one (person)," she
said. "I would have to be Margaret Thatcher to make that kind of
impact."
Emerton asked people skeptical of
Voice's intentions to watch what the group does, rather than speculate based on
what groups such as Faithful Voice say.
"If we can get through all the
misinformation being spread, (people) start to understand who are,"
Emerton said. "We are the mainstream Catholics."
Cronin said Faithful Voice is simply telling the
truth,
and that will be Voice of the Faithful's undoing.
"If we bring forth the truth, it
has to expose Voice of the Faithful and they'll fold," he said.
The question
is: Will Leary, Kessler and Swidler find themselves on the Debra Haffner
Express Train out of town?
"(Faithful
Voice) continues to misinterpret what we say," Emerton said. "They
flatly refuse to believe our stated missions and goals."
Mike - have
the decency to admit it - nobody can misinterpret this:
Playing on the revolutionary theme, the
group hopes to hold a Continental Congress in Philadelphia next year to write its
constitution - an effort Muller said it was coordinating with Leonard Swidler,
a professor of Catholic thought at Temple University.
Voice of the Faithful aims to strike at
what members say is at the root of the abuse scandals: a secretive church hierarchy
not accountable to anyone. They hope to give greater voice to lay people
through elections and increased dialogue with the clergy.
It is
schismatic.
Do you
honestly believe that once people look at the evidence they are not going to
see that this:
VOTF waters
down Constitution
...is just a
carefully reworded version of this:
But it is just
all too clear
Does Jan
really think that once people read this:
Hundreds of CTA
members attended the VOTF conference. Jan Leary, coordinator of CTA in Massachusetts,
has served on the VOTF founding leadership council.
CTA, VOTF eye
collaboration
Daley and other
CTA board and staff have met with VOTF leaders about future collaboration.
"CTA and VOTF are united in working for strong lay participation in church
decision-making, especially on local levels," Daley said. "But we
each have distinct agendas which in the long run can benefit the overall reform
movement." He gave some examples: "VOTF has chosen not to speak out
on related issues that are contrary to Vatican positions, such as married
priests, women priests, and birth control for married couples. CTA has a long
history and current programs on such matters. And since over three-fourths of
Catholics agree with us on these topics, they will be central to the overall
lay emergence that is dawning. These are exciting times."
Sneaky stuff -
but very effective if our priests don't do their homework
and this:
There is an
option to annulment, secretive, says Jan, "the good-conscience
solution" whereby one does not have to go through a tribunal
....people
are going to find her credible? honorable?
The group
doesn't share her views in other areas, and she doesn't expect it to change,
Leary said
Good luck
selling that line.
Help us out
Jan.
Are you the
contact person for (Pavodano's) CORPUS?
What is your
involvement in the New England Chapter of COR?
Are you a
member of We are Church?
More
importantly - do you think our priests are going to find your discernment
qualifies you to teach the interpretation of Vatican II documents after finding
out all this and verifying it?
But Emerton said
Faithful Voice is causing disruptions with its ambush strategy.
"That's
some of the guerrilla tactics they're using to spread false information about
Voice of the Faithful," he said.
We are
causing disruptions? You mean we are not allowed to question your speakers in a
peaceful manner when they deny the Presence? Deny the Trinity? When you send in
James Carroll to Winchester VOTF - we are not allowed to object?
I thought
your purpose was to listen to the voice of the laity? Why is it when we raise
out voice, you tell us we are being disruptive? Why did your message board lock
the orthodox out of discussion? Why is it that you cannot name a single representative
of your mission who has a reputation for obedience and loyalty to the
Magisterium?
You keep
telling us we are lying. We had to resort to recording and documenting. There
is nothing wrong with recording truth. I would suspect if you were on the up-and-up
you would have no problem with the recordings, would you? It will set us
free....and set Christ's priests free....His Archbishop.
: Reader's response to:
Russell Shaw, a former
spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said he believes lay
people can be a positive force for change in the church, but he's been
discouraged by how lay groups have developed in Boston.
"It's
more confrontation, more divisiveness. ... (Faithful Voice) is cast in the role
as the conservative answer to the liberals," he said. "We need a
fresh start in Boston, and everywhere else."
Mr. Russell
Shaw’s evaluation is far off the mark.
When is he and
others of his thinking going to clearly understand and accept that there are no
"conservative" Catholic and no "liberal" Catholic. This
unfortunate terminology is a quirk of dissent in the Church. One is
"Catholic" or "not-a-Catholic"
A Catholic, or a
group of Catholics that goes public to defend the Faith is truly that
"positive force" doing it duty to keep "unity" in the
Church. The confrontational and divisive element is the dissenting group which,
unfortunately, deceptively recruited some very good "Catholics"
In Boston, Mr.
Shaw, FV is "Catholic." Votf, unwisely, is in league with
"anti-Catholic" individuals/organizations. There has been ample
documentation to authenticate the existing dissent connected with Votf.
FV and
Magisterial Fidelity in Boston are the laity who are positively performing
their duty. The leadership in Boston—bishops and clergy should take their
example.
In fact, they
are doing such a magnificent job, --50 against 25,000–that those who are
squirming for lack of doing their job are maligning and attacking unjustly both
FV and Magisterial Fidelity.
The
"truth" is always a hard pill to swallow for those who are not humble enough to
take it.
"CONTINUE
TO THE POSITIVE FORCE FOR UNITY OF FAITH IN BOSTON"