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The Fact Sheet
below may answer your questions. For further information, contact
us using the data on the 'Contact Us' page.
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VOICE OF THE
FAITHFUL FACT SHEET
Q. Who is Voice of the Faithful?
A. Voice of the Faithful (VOTF) is a lay organization formed in January,
2002, in response to the Catholic clergy sexual abuse crisis. Begun as a
listening session of 30 parishioners in a church basement in suburban
Boston, today Voice of the Faithful has over 40,000 registered
supporters throughout 50 U.S. states and 38 countries worldwide, and
over 155 Parish Voice affiliates. VOTF has been gaining increasing
support in Ireland since 2005. We are committed to providing a
safe forum where all Catholics, whatever their views on specific issues,
can participate in a conversation about the challenges of our Church.
Q. What is Voice of the Faithful's mission?
A. Our mission is "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."
Q. What are Voice of the Faithful's goals?
A. Our three goals are to support victim/survivors of clergy sexual
abuse; to support priests of integrity; to shape structural change
within the Catholic Church.
Q. What does Voice of the Faithful mean by supporting survivors?
A. This is a time to be present for survivors; to listen; to raise
awareness; and to provide a safe forum for survivors to tell their
stories and express their feelings publicly as a first step to truth,
reconciliation, and healing. We are supporting survivors through
listening sessions, healing masses, prayer, fund-raising, monitoring of
bishops, education and public witness.
Q. What does Voice of the Faithful mean by supporting priests of
integrity?
A. Priests who are faithful to their vocations and vows are currently
suffering personal pain and public humiliation. VOTF is reaching out to
priests, who are struggling to find their own voices and to come to
terms with what has happened.
Q. Why does Voice of the Faithful feel entitled to claim a place at
the table for the laity in the governance and guidance of the Catholic
Church?
A. Vatican II documents provide a clear mandate for the laity's right
and responsibility to act in the guidance of the Church as the people of
God. Furthermore, Pope John Paul II in 1999 called upon our Irish
bishops to introduce
'new structures ...
to build a greater sense of belonging' in the Irish church - a call
to which they have not yet responded. In addition, simple morality cries out for the laity to become
involved. The hierarchy that failed to protect our children cannot be
trusted to continue exercising unchecked control over the persons,
property, money, and fate of our Church without the input from laity
that Vatican II, and the late pope, called for.
Q. What will be the effect of bringing laity into the governance
structure of the Church?
A. The Church hierarchy can learn much from the Catholic laity. We have
intellectual, emotional and spiritual contributions to make and
knowledge to impart on real-life issues such as human sexuality, women's
gifts, democratic processes, parenting and the lessons of science and
history.
Q. Does Voice of the Faithful have a "hidden agenda?"
A. Voice of the Faithful does not have a "hidden" liberal or
conservative agenda. This would be impossible, since our members hold
diverse views. We do, however, have an agenda for change. The crisis in
our Church demands that the Catholic laity must stand up and force
change in the clerical culture of secrecy and abuse of power that has
brought us to this shameful pass.
Q. What positions does Voice of the Faithful take on married clergy,
women priests, and homosexuality in and outside of the Church?
A. Voice of the Faithful takes no position on the hot-button sex and
gender issues roiling the Catholic Church, although we are keenly
interested in hearing all points of view. We aim to bring the laity to
the table of Church governance and guidance per the imperatives of
Vatican II.
Q. If VOTF takes no position on such issues, how can it shape
structural change?
A. VOTF believes that creating structural mechanisms whereby lay
Catholics can influence the administrative (not dogmatic) decisions of
the Church at all levels - parish, diocese, region, nation, Vatican -
will represent a transformation in the healthy life of the Church. Lay
representation is necessary to restore the Church to holiness and
health. The solutions to the current crisis reside largely with the
laity -the whole rich spectrum of men, women and children who live their
daily lives as faithful Catholics in the real world.
Q. Is Voice of the Faithful schismatic or heretical?
A. No. VOTF is committed to reform from within the Catholic Church. We
have no intention of founding a new Church. We are also not heretical.
We do not challenge Church dogma.
Q. Does Voice of the Faithful seek dialogue with Irish bishops? Under
what terms?
A. VOTF wishes to engage our bishops in dialogue, but we will not
negotiate our right to exist, our right to be heard, or our right to
free speech as Irish Catholics. We especially seek dialogue on
the call made to our Irish bishops in
1999 by Pope John Paul II to establish 'new structures ... to build
a greater sense of belonging' in the Irish church . Without these we cannot build mutual trust, or even
communicate effectively. At present, unable to communicate within
itself, our church is visibly decaying - and especially losing the trust
and interest of our young people. Structures of belonging and mutual accountability
will prevent this.
Q. Does VOTF think trust can be restored between the Catholic laity
and its leadership? If yes, how?
A. We hope that Irish bishops now recognize that they face a new and
unprecedented need to prove their capacity for leadership. No longer can
bishops demand our trust and confidence without earning it. We want to work with the
bishops, but to earn back our trust, they must show a new respect for
the dignity and intelligence of lay people. The laity must continually
review and monitor the performance of bishops in meeting their stated
commitments. The symbol of the bishop's pastoral office, the shepherds
crook, has been deeply compromised by the failure of the episcopal
system to protect Irish Catholic children - and our bishops cannot
restore its symbolism without putting their pastoral obligations before
their need for autocratic control.
Q. What are Parish Voice affiliates?
A. VOTF is building an effective Parish Voice affiliate network, with
188+ vibrant models of local action in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New
Zealand and Ireland. We have developed learning materials and training
programs, and have evolved from a virtual organization to a permanent,
increasingly influential entity fostering a deeper understanding of our
faith; of the institutional Church; of canon law; and of Vatican II. We
are organizing study groups in local PV affiliates, as well as
nationally, to examine the adequacy of enforcement procedures, to study
issues such as the meaning of structural change, and to design models of
lay involvement.
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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
1. To support
survivors of clergy sexual abuse.
2. To support priests of integrity
3.To shape structural change within the Catholic Church.
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