We call on all Bishops to voice opposition and ban Voice of the Faithful. [ VOTF ] RosaryCampaign@FaithfulVoice.com
Since the first week of August Voice of The Faithful has been opposed and banned from Church property in nine dioceses across The United States .
Banned
by Bishop Gerry in Portland, ME.
Banned
by Bishop Lori in Bridgeport, CT.
Banned
by Bishop Murphy in Rockville Centre, NY.
Banned
by Bishop Daly in Brooklyn, NY.
Banned
by Bishop Meyers in Newark, NJ.
Banned
by Bishop DiMarzio in Camden, NJ.
Banned
by Bishop Vasa in Baker, OR.
Banned
by Bishop Allue ,No Andover, Ma
Banned
by Bishop Donaghue , Atlanta, GA
Banned
by Archbishop Michael Sheehan , Phoenix , AZ
Banned by Archbishop Michael Sheehan , Santa Fe , NM
And,
frozen - - in Boston, MA, by Cardinal Law.
JESUIT PRIEST BARRED FROM JESUIT PROPERTY
DUE TO VOICE OF THE FAITHFUL SPONSORSHIP
Maine
- Voice of the Faithful act in opposition to Bishop Gerry , Portland ,Maine .
Speaking
Series Despite Obstructions
Portland,
Maine - January 16, 2003 - Voice of the Faithful ( VOTF ), a group of over
25,000 lay Catholics formed in response to the sexual abuse crisis in the
Catholic Church, continues its speaking series in Maine with an informative
dialogue regarding the rights and responsibilities of the laity and clergy by
Jesuit Priest, Rev. William Clark, S.J., who holds a doctorate in theology from
the Weston Jesuit School of Theology. This latest lecture was originally
targeted for Cheverus High School, a Jesuit facility located in Portland,
Maine. However, Cheverus refused to host Rev. Clark's talk because the event is
sponsored by VOTF. VOTF's Maine affiliates will now host this free public event
in the parish hall at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church,
271 Maine Street, Saco, Maine, at 7:00 p.m., Wednesday, January 22, 2003.
"In
the midst of the worst crisis facing the Catholic Church in its entire 500 year
history in North America, it is astonishing that some bishops and Catholic
educators think the best solution is to ban Catholics from gathering on church
property to talk about the Church's problems," said Jim Post, president,
Voice of the Faithful. "Catholic leaders need to stop preventing open and
honest dialogue. They should join with Voice of the Faithful and thousands of
Catholic laity across the country, to promote and foster effective healing via
community discussions."
Paul
Kendrick, a founding member of VOTF's Maine affiliate and Jesuit educated at
Cheverus and Fairfield University, finds Bishop Joseph Gerry's (bishop of the
Maine Diocese) continued edict to ban VOTF from church property and in
particular the banning of a Catholic theologian and VOTF speaker from a Jesuit
school very disturbing.
"The
banning of a Jesuit Priest from Jesuit property is quite troubling. VOTF's
Maine affiliates have been diligently working to bring educated, well-informed
Catholic speakers to Maine, only to be ostracized by local Catholic leaders and
now, Jesuit educators. The continued banning of VOTF group meetings and the
barring of open and honest dialogue via notable Catholics is an affront to all
laity."
Rev.
Clark's Topic: Role of the Laity in the Roman Catholic Church in the 21st
Century Rev. Clark will detail: the authority of the laity to speak within the
Catholic Church; the canonical, moral, and theological obligation of clergy and
laity to listen to the voice of the Spirit in the numerous places it can be
heard, as well as the potential role of Voice of the Faithful and other active
lay groups as bridges between the growing polar extremes in the Catholic Church
today.
"I
am increasingly concerned that on all sides, dialogue in the Catholic Church is
so often precluded before it has begun; we pay much more attention to labels
and affiliations while dangerously postponing the healing the church so
desperately needs," said Rev. William Clark.
About
Rev. William J. Clark
Rev.
William Clark, S.J., joined the faculty of the College of the Holy Cross in the
fall of 2001, and is currently an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies. He
has written extensively on the continuing significance of the declarations that
came out of Vatican II with particular emphasis on the rightful function of the
parish-level faithful in their ministry as a People of God. Rev. Clark is a
1980 graduate of Williams College (magna cum laude; Phi Beta Kappa), where he
majored in history, and also holds an M.A. in political philosophy from Loyola
University of Chicago. He studied theology at the Weston Jesuit School of
Theology (M.Div., 1992; S.T.L., 1995; S.T.D., 2001), specializing in systematic
theology with a particular emphasis on ecclesiology.
RosaryCampaign@FaithfulVoice.com