Welcome to the website of
Voice of the Faithful - Ireland, the Irish branch of a global Catholic organisation founded in Boston in 2002 - in response to the failure of church leaders to protect children from sexual predators within the priesthood.

Trusting in the Creeds at a time of crisis, we Irish Catholic lay people and clergy raise a collective voice of confidence in the Blessed Trinity - and in the future.

"People need to raise their voices and be heard and be prepared to work with priests, religious and bishops to ensure that this can never happen again." 

So said Bishop Bill Murphy of Kerry following the Ferns Report of late October, 2005.  Voice of the Faithful - Ireland now responds to that call, and to the bishops' document 'Towards Healing' published in February 2005.

Our ultimate goal is an Irish Catholic church fully attuned to Gospel values of mutual caring, compassion, truth and gentleness - a church in tune with the documents of Vatican II, in which no one is unaccountable for what they do, or fail to do. 

This can be achieved only by a trustful, truthful and open collaboration of lay people and clergy, embodying the church's teaching that all of us are equal in dignity. This will require changes to the way in which the church administers itself, and a new relationship between clergy and people.

We will collaborate with all women, men, girls and boys, clergy and religious to this end - with all who are committed to restoring the credibility of our church and to building a society that is safe for children.

How VOTF Ireland came into being following disastrous failures of church leadership - including the betrayal of children - in Ireland, the USA, and elsewhere.
 

Jogging a Bishop's Elbow 
How VOTF (Ulster) jogged a bishop's memory and began a movement to respond to the Irish bishops' year-old challenge to the Irish church.

The lay apostolate ... is a participation in the saving mission of the Church itself. Through their baptism and confirmation, all are commissioned to that apostolate by the Lord Himself.  (Vatican II Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity.)

Limerick's Crisis:  The Underlying Issue
The suicide of a victim of clerical child sex abuse in Limerick, and the decision of Bishop Donal Murray to take a 'short break', raise a key question for all of Ireland's bishops:  are the interests of victims incompatible with the interests of the Church?
We in Voice of the Faithful insist that they are not.  We believe that an apparent policy of dealing with complainants of abuse as adversaries to be defeated is based upon a materialistic misunderstanding of the church - and that any harm done to victims by this policy is most seriously damaging to the Irish church as a whole.  So, Bishop Murray's crisis should not be seen as his crisis alone.  All of Ireland's bishops need to recognise the phenomenon of administrative abuse, and to understand fully its threat to the faith, and the church, they were ordained to serve.

Irish Bishops Rome-bound in October
What will Pope Benedict XVI say to our Irish Bishops about the state of the Irish church when he addresses them in Rome this Autumn? Will he remind them of what Pope John Paul II told them last time in 1999 - that the Irish church needs new structures that will give Irish Catholics a sense of belonging to their own church?  And if he does, will they listen this time?

Ferns - the Key Lessons 
How most of our church leaders have still not grasped the reasons we are still submerged in scandal, or learned the key lessons needed to take us to a happier future.

Whatever happened to the Stewardship Trust?
This always mysterious fund for compensating victims of clerical child sex abuse (set up by the bishops originally in 1996 but not revealed to us lay people until 2003), continues to baffle.

Unaccountability, Patronage and Corruption
How, as revealed by the treatment of Fr Gerard McGinnity, (the  whistleblowing former dean of Maynooth), our church can be too easily corrupted by the unaccountable power of bishops to buy servility through patronage.  By their control of the  promotion or demotion of clergy and their influence even over the careers of teachers in Catholic schools and other educational institutions, our bishops too often rule through fear rather than inspiration.

A researcher asks for information.

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.

Our Goals

2. To support priests of integrity

3.To shape structural change within the Catholic Church.

Gentle Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
source of all wisdom, love and light.  Revive our spirits at a time of doubt and despondency.  Help us to witness to the truths our Church and our priests have brought to us over many centuries.  Help us to show that your Gospel can meet all the challenges of the moment and bring peace and friendship to all people on this island - so that Ireland can become again a source of light and joy to the world.  Amen

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Voice of the Faithful - Ireland
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