In March 2006 Derry members of Voice of the faithful met with their bishop, Dr Seamus Hegarty, to discuss a proposal that he and his fellow bishops had launched the previous year, but then apparently forgotten -  to respond to the needs of victims of abuse.

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In February 2005, the Catholic Bishops of Ireland had published the document 'Towards Healing' - a Lenten reflection.  Lamenting the alienation of survivors of clerical abuse and their families from their native church, the bishops pointed out that most child abuse had nothing to do with clergy, and that the full toll of all abuse was enormous.

With apparent courage and determination they called for a massive effort from the 'whole church community' to tackle the problem of meeting the needs of all victims of abuse on the island of Ireland.

But after the initial media fanfare, the document disappeared from the view of many - probably most - Irish Catholics - if they had even noticed it to begin with.  Many never even glimpsed the well-produced document itself.

Fearing that this was likely to happen, Sean O'Conaill, acting co-ordinator for Voice of the Faithful in Ireland, quickly submitted an article to the Dominican monthly 'Doctrine and Life'.  Entitled 'Towards Healing - A Promise That Must Be Kept'  the article warned that further disillusionment would follow in the Irish Church if the document proved to be nothing more than a verbal gesture.

Nevertheless, by February 2006 'Towards Healing' had indeed sunk almost out of sight.  In the diocese of Derry, for example, there had been no co-ordinated appeal from the diocesan leadership for people to read the document, or for the whole-church response to meet the needs of survivors of abuse that it entailed, and very few in the diocese ever even got to hear about it.

In that month the executive committee of Voice of the Faithful in Ulster wrote to the Bishop of Derry, Dr Seamus Hegarty, reminding him of the call to prayer and action that he and his fellow bishops had made twelve months earlier in 'Towards Healing'. They told him that VOTF had been founded to respond to this challenge, and that to prepare to meet that challenge they felt the need for parish services of prayer for healing of the wounds caused by abuse.  They reported that some priests whom they had already approached on this matter had responded very favourably.

To his credit, Dr Hegarty soon responded, welcoming this initiative.  He invited four VOTF representatives to meet with him to 'forward' it.  This meeting duly took place on March 10th, 2006.  At this Bishop Hegarty undertook to propose parish prayer services of healing to a conference of Derry priests on March 23rd.

However, he left the VOTF representatives in no doubt that while agreeing that praying for survivors of abuse was certainly part of the role of lay people, he had serious reservations about them doing anything else.  This 'pay, pray and obey' role that so many bishops tend to want to restrict laity to is a formula for terminal paralysis and immaturity in the Irish church, and way short of what 'Towards Healing' called for.  There appears to be a fear of abuse victims doing the very thing their healing requires:  telling their stories to other members of their church and community.

However, VOTF in Derry welcomed Dr Hegarty's response and looked forward to the healing services that should then transpire in Derry diocese.  Already listening to survivors of abuse in the diocese, they had already begun to do what 'Towards Healing' called for. 

They now expectantly await further conclusive evidence of Dr Hegarty's unprompted pastoral concern for those injured by, and alienated from, their church.
 

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.

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