Agenda
Information about Voice of the Faithful - VOTF
Voice of the Faithful: Seeking changes in the Church
Cincinnati
Enquirer ,Aug
17, 03
We are bringing the power of the Internet to bear on the Church. The Internet is a great equalizer agent against a hierarchy.
We
want a hybrid Church with Congress-like structures
Jim
Muller, a physician who battled nuclear weapons, has turned his attention to
the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church. He is a founder and former
president of Voice of the Faithful, one of several grassroots, lay
organizations formed in the wake of the clergy sex abuse in the Church. While
some bishops around the country have banned the group from
meeting on church property, it is permitted to do so in the Archdiocese of
Cincinnati with the approval of the local pastor. Muller, a cardiologist, also
is a founder of Physicians Against Nuclear War, which won the Nobel Peace Prize
in 1985. He spoke in Cincinnati last week at St. Francis DeSales Church in
Walnut Hills and met with members of the Enquirer editorial board.
Here
are excerpts from that interview.
What
is Voice of the Faithful?
"It's
a grassroots organization that emerged because of the Catholic clergy sex
scandal in Boston involving hundreds of priests and thousands of victims. We
want to provide a voice for the people of the church so they can actively
participate in the governance and guidance of the Church. In Boston, we didn't
treat this just as a sex scandal. We wanted to know what caused the cover-up.
We want to get to what we think is the root of the problem and that's the
Church structure.
"The
sex abuse was a symptom of a disease, which is an underlying system of absolute
power and no accountability by the Church hierarchy. The early Christian church
wasn't a monarchy or a dictatorship. The early American Catholic Church was
more democratic. One diocese in South Carolina had a legislature with two
houses - one for the clergy and the other for the laity. Only later were the
laity disenfranchised. The laity is 99 percent of the Church. We need to return
to those early models.
What
happened in your meeting (last week) with Cincinnati Archbishop Daniel
Pilarczyk?
I
thanked him for meeting with our group. I told him of working with Cardinal
Bernardin (former Archbishop of Cincinnati) in drafting the bishops' pastoral
letter on the nuclear weapons years ago. I have a history of working with
hierarchy and I understand the good the hierarchy can do...It has value in
speaking and refining (spiritual) matters on a world level. Cardinal Bernardin
wanted to find the common ground that people on the right and left could share
so they could talk to each other. I told Archbishop Pilarczyk that VOTF could
help with that common ground conversation in the Church and that a dose of democracy
for the laity would be good for the Catholic Church.
We
are not out to change the core doctrine of the Church, but to change how the
Catholic Church acts in certain areas. We have a canon
lawyer on retainer to keep us on track. We want the laity to have a
stronger voice in how things are done in the church. We want transparency and
accountability from the hierarchy.
We had a good conversation. At the end however, he said he was uncomfortable with VOTF's motto, which is "Keep the Faith; change the Church." He said that was an oversimplification.
I assured him our intent was positive.
What
about charges that VOTF has a leftist or liberal agenda for the Church?
We
are trying to represent all Catholics. We hope to pull left and right together
to common ground. We are trying to reach out to talk with more conservative
Catholics. Our goal is to provide an open forum, for laity to have a place at
the table on church governance and guidance. We represent a lot Catholics who
love the Church and want to see it better. Those who want to continue to
participate in Catholic life, but to change the Church.
How
large is VOTF's membership?
We
are becoming worldwide. VOTF numbers more than 30,000, with 186 affiliates,
including some in Australia and New Zealand. The abuse scandal is not limited
to Boston or Cincinnati...There was a massive sexual abuse scandal in Ireland.
Thousands of Catholics there quietly left the Church instead of fighting back.
We
have about a $400,000 a year budget, with 10 full-time people and lots of volunteers
in a three-room office with day care in Newton, Mass. Eventualy we may become a
Web-based group. The Internet is a wonderful facilitator. When people say the
laity doesn't have a chance against the hierarchy, I tell them: We have
instruments now that we didn't have before.....We are bringing the power of the
Internet to bear on the Church. The Internet is a great equalizer agent against
a hierarchy. (VOTF Web site is www.votf.org)
Why
are Church leaders so wary of your group? Are they sincerely concerned that you
aim to change or water down teachings of the Church? Or are they threatened or
worried about diluting or sharing their power and authority?
Groups
don't willingly give up power. I would argue the hierarchy would be better off
sharing power. There would be more power. The laity have the money. With
greater involvement by the laity, much more good could be accomplished. Some
critics within the Church say, "Oh you're just trying to create a
Protestant Church. We don't want to get rid of the hierarchy. They preserved
the wonderful teachings of Jesus Christ for 2000 years. We want a hybrid
Church with Congress-like structures for the laity at all levels, from parishes up
to the international level. People say the Church is not a democracy. I have
seen meetings of Bishops that debate and vote and use all democratic practices.
We all hope VOTF will become a world movement.
Taken
from The Cincinnati Enquirer 17 AUG 02