Father Vacek
Father Vasek
No matter how you spell it
Bishop
Coleman firmly closes the door on VOTF.
Voice of the Faithful speaks on Cape Cod By Brad Lynch
"It is better to ask for forgiveness than
permission." VOTF members
said they asked 23 priests to join the meeting and were turned down before
hiring dissident theologian Father Vacek.
http://www.barnstablepatriot.com/10-24-03-news/voicefaithful.html
BRAD
LYNCH PHOTOS
MANY ARE CALLED. ONE CHOOSES - Rev. James Vacek, S.J., celebrated Mass on the stage of Sandwich High School, rented for a conference of Voice of the Faithful, Catholic lay group which held its first diocese-wide conference last Sunday. Some bishops have ordered priests in their areas not to take part in the VOTF events. When asked if he had sought permission to say Mass for the group, Father Vacek, a faculty member at the Weston seminary in Cambridge, cited what he termed an old Jesuit adage, "It is better to ask for forgiveness than permission." VOTF members said they asked 23 priests to join the meeting and were turned down before contacting Father Vasek.
More on Fr. Vacek , S.J.
AMERICA (THE MAGAZINE) ENDORSES GAY PRIESTS
America Magazine Vol. 187 No. 20, December 16, 2002
Voice of the Faithful speaks on Cape Cod By Brad Lynch
Spurred
by revulsion at priest-child sex scandals and efforts of some in the Catholic
hierarchy to cover them up, a 20-month-old (and growing) movement is seeking a
role for lay people to help the Catholic church clean up its act and get with
the 21st century.
One
hundred Cape Cod Catholics, who ventured to the Sandwich High School auditorium
on this past rainy Sunday afternoon, got an update on progress and obstacles
from the co-founding president of "Voice of the Faithful," James L.
Post. a Wellesley Catholic and professor of business at Boston University.
Post,
59, a native of Buffalo, married to Jeannette and with three children and three
grandchildren, had little church experience beyond a half Catholic education
-bachelor's through doctorate at St. Bonaventure, Villanova and the State
University of New York -before he and fellow parishioners at St. John the
Evangelist began discussions in the parking lot after Sunday mass about their
church's needs in its sorrow and shame.
From
the meetings came a volunteer organization of laymen and women, Voice Of The
Faithful (VOTF), with three goals, 1) to help survivors of sexual abuse in the
church, 2) to support priests of integrity and 3) to help shape cultural change
in the church which, some VOTF proponents say. has been overdue since Vatican
II in the early 1960s.
Purposefully,
VOTF does not see a role for itself in addressing questions that involve church
dogma; for example it does not take stands on such subjects as marriage for
priests or ordination of women. VOTF has been credited with having been one of
many groups that agitated for and influenced the resignation of Cardinal
Bernard Law. The organization has grown rapidly to include 33,000 members in
close to 200 parishes across the country. In the U.S., there are 60 million
Catholics.
The
group seeks what Post believes are real opportunities to be of service to the
church, to bring new openness, candor and cooperation between a beleaguered
clergy who need help and a devoted laity who seek ways to serve. Key to working
together would be to encourage change rather than regard it as a threat.
The
offer of help from VOTF has not been universally cheered in the Diocese of Fall
River and many other areas, particularly in the Northeast.
One
indication at Sunday's meeting was that Cape Cod is a strong area for Catholics
concerned over people hurt and needing help after clerical abuse. VOTF members
and staff consider themselves basically middle of the road but deeply involved
Catholics who are active in their parishes, whose contributions do more than
average to build churches and schools. This was the first Diocese-wide meeting
of VOTF in Massachusetts and the Cape was chosen to host it. The fact that this
area has not been spared from clergy sex crime contributes to making this a
major issue here.
The
two most powerful churchmen, both newly promoted to their present jobs, have
ties to the Cape. They are Archbishop Sean O'Malley of Boston and Bishop George
Coleman of Fall River, himself a long-time parish priest on the Cape. These two
bishops take different stands on the subject of Voice of the Faithful. O'Malley
has been willing to meet with the group and to consider more lay participation,
though for a time the group understands he must be concerned with legal issues.
Bishop
Coleman firmly closed the door on VOTF, banning local priests from meeting with
the group, forbidding coverage of the organization's events in parish
newsletters and refusing to allow the group to meet on church property. These are typical of
attitudes across the country, where some bishops welcome having more lay help
and talent in management and others consider VOTF to be a medley of meddlesome
pariahs. On balance, though, from reviews of press accounts and in the comments
of Post, VOTF seems to be making more friends than foes.
In
a brief statement for the Patriot, Bishop Coleman this week allowed that he
needs to further examine the lay group. "The Bishop," he said through
press spokesman John Kearns, "still wants time to study Voice Of the Faithful
and their parish affiliate voices."
All
information copyright Cornerstone Communications, Inc., 2003
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VOTF promotes homosexuality in the priesthood
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