VOTF gives the appearance of legitimacy in
its work of fraud and plagarism of the mantle of authority that they dress
themselves in. Alice Slattery
Letting Their Voice Be Heard By Rita Ciolli 28 Sep 03 Newsday
McBrien
said the time has come to discuss the ordination of women and allowing priests
to marry
The
sexual abuse scandal has given Catholics a historic opportunity to change the
structure of their church, a noted theologian told an audience determined to do
just that at the first convention of Long Island's Voice of the Faithful.
"Jesus
did not leave a precise blueprint of the church's structure for the rest of its
existence," the Rev. Richard McBrien, a theology professor at the
University of Notre Dame and author of many books on Catholicism, said at the
conference Saturday in Melville. He said moral teachings, such as love,
forgiveness and justice, were the divine law Catholics must follow.
"In
almost every other matter, the church is free, free to do what it must to
fulfill its mission," said McBrien. While the Catholic Church will always
need a strong structure to function, McBrien said rules on who can be ordained,
the methods of selecting church leaders and the role of the laity in governance
can be changed. The abuse scandal has awakened ordinary Catholics to the fact
that they can pressure the church to make those changes, he said.
Those
changes would be welcomed by Long Island Catholics, according to a survey the
Voice of the Faithful released Saturday that showed an overwhelming desire for
reform.
The
conference attracted a sellout crowd of more than 650 people, surprising
organizers who had only ordered 550 lunches. "Remember the parable of the
loaves and fishes," said Phil Megna, a conference coordinator, as lunch
was served. Many of those in the audience then shared their chicken and
vegetable wraps.
For
the organizers, the event showed the strength of the movement, which started in
response to the abuse scandal with 30 people in a South Shore church in July
2002. The activist group has grown to almost 1,600 members on Long Island and
raised $10,000 to help underwrite the cost of the meeting. After two meetings
on church property that summer, Bishop William Murphy of the Diocese of
Rockville Centre banned the group from meeting on church property and from
using any parish facilities to promote its cause.
However,
Dan Bartley, co-chairman of the lay group, told the audience they were the
people who filled the pews: Of the 700 local Catholics responding to the
group's recent survey, he said, 80 percent went to Mass weekly. Of that group,
25 percent attended daily services.
"If
we are dangerous, radical people, our church needs a whole lot more of us
dangerous people," said Bartley. But he and many others in the mostly
older crowd pointed out that more young people were needed.
In
his hourlong talk, McBrien said if any good came from the 20 months of
controversy that has enveloped the church, it was "the awakening of many
caring Catholics to your own responsibilities in the life and ministries of the
church."
McBrien
said the time has come to discuss the ordination of women and allowing priests
to marry
or there would not be enough "good priests" in the future to say
Mass. "You have to be blind not to see that, you have to be in utter and
complete denial not to see that," he added.
But
it seemed unlikely that dialogue would come soon. He noted recent reports from
Rome that the Vatican was considering eliminating or restricting the use of
girls as altar servers. "Can you believe that? In this environment, you
almost want to say, 'No more altar boys,' " said McBrien, drawing laughter
from the audience.
McBrien
told the group that demands for more involvement were not a new idea, but
something promised four decades ago by the Second Vatican Council. "You
are resurrecting rather than creating a tradition," he said. However,
McBrien said that those who take a leadership role must be "informed and
measured" and knowledgeable in church teachings. He said the church could
never become a "poll-driven community."
The
results of the Voice of the Faithful's admittedly unscientific survey showed an
overwhelming concern about church leaders. Ranking 18 areas they felt needed to
be changed, the respondents cited the scandal cover-up, the abuse itself and
abuse of power by the hierarchy as the most pressing issues.
In
discussing the results, speaker after speaker called on priests to be more active
in asking Murphy to recognize their group and concerns of the laity. "We
would like a courageous clergy," said Anne Kerrigan of Our Lady of Lourdes
in West Islip. "We would like a clergy that would join together and speak
out as a group."
The
day ended with a witty talk by Sister Pat Duffy, a member of the Dominican
religious order in Amityville, who urged the group to take on its mission
"not with bitterness, but with love." Acknowledging the difficulty of
the task and drawing a loud laugh from the majority gender in the room, Duffy
said: "If you are a woman in the church, you have never been listened to.
We're OK with this. It's you guys who have to work on it."
Copyright
© 2003, Newsday,
Inc.
One
minute Fr. Richard McBrien is telling VOTF:"the church must never become a
poll-driven community." Then , ironically,the reporter says that the
results of the VOTF survey ( a poll!!)showed an overwhelming call for the
priests to be more active in calling for Bishop Murphy to allow VOTF to be
recognized as an official organization representing the Long Island diocese.
The
saddest fact is that Fr. Walter Cuenin and Fr. Bob Bullock are the two priests
in the Boston Archdiocese who called Fr. Richard McBrien to insert himself into
the daily lives of the priests in the Boston Archdiocese without ever once
asking all of the priests in the Boston Archdiocese if they wanted
Fr.
Richard McBrien to lead them.
Fr.
Richard McBrien, along with Fr. Cuenin and Fr. Bob Bullock have appointed
themselves as judge and jury over the Boston Archdiocese , and now the Long
island diocese , and have helped to develop the VOTF to give them the
appearance of legitimacy in this work of fraud and plagarism of the mantle of
authority that they dress themselves in. Eventually that false mantle will fall
off and their dissident undermining of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church
will be revealed.
Alice
Slattery@FaithfulVoice,com