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	Future of Catholic Church to Be Discussed Tonight Derry Journal [Northern Ireland] October 25, 2006 http://www.derryjournal.com/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=3421&ArticleID=1840086 Sean O'Conaill, Co-ordinator of Ireland's Voice of the Faithful last night issued an open invite to local priests to attend a meeting in the city tonight at which the future of the church will be discussed. Members of Derry's Voice of the Faithful organisation will gather to discuss 'Your Church and its Future' this evening, October 24, in the City Hotel at 8pm. Co-ordinator of Voice of the Faithful, Sean O'Conaill told the 'Journal' yesterday he was hopeful some local priests might attend the meeting. "I would like to see priests there, and we would be more than willing to answer any questions they might wish to ask," he said. The organisation, who formed in response to the Catholic Church clerical sex abuse scandal, recently sent a report to Pope Benedict XVI and the Congregation for Bishops in Rome, voicing "deep concerns" about a number of issues in the Derry diocese. Mr. O'Conaill said he hopes the report will be well received in Rome: "We have sources who have told us that some of the themes we raised in the report were shared by many, and also by people at the centre of the church." Derry's Voice of the Faithful expressed concern to Rome over several matters in their report. This included Dr Hegarty's failure to act on the recommendation made by Pope John Paul II to all Irish bishops in 1999 to set up structures which would give Ireland's lay Catholics a greater sense of belonging to their own church. They also voiced concern over his failure to advance in the diocese proposals for support for victims of sexual abuse announced by all the Irish bishops in February 2005 in the document 'Towards Healing', as well as his failure to act on an undertaking he gave to the diocesan 'Ministry and Change' consultation group in 2003 to implement a model of collaborative ministry between priests and people in the diocese. The VOTF report also mentioned the appointment of a priest of the diocese against whom two allegations of sexual abuse had been made to a role in counselling victims of sexual abuse in 2001, and contradictory statements made by Bishop Hegarty in a TV interview in February 2005, relating to diocesan contributions to an abuse compensation fund. It also detailed Dr Hegarty's failure to respond in 2004 to letters from 50 young members of a Derry Catholic youth movement, and his failure to make adequate provision for adult faith development in the diocese. Bishop of Derry, Dr Seamus Hegarty, is currently in Rome with all of Ireland's Catholic bishops to discuss the problems of the Irish church with the Pope and the Curia. Whilst there, Dr. Hegarty is expected to meet privately with the Pope. An abridged version of this VOTF (Ulster) report to Rome can be viewed on the organisation's website at: http://www.votfi.com. Tonight's meeting will aim to answer questions on this report, and to listen to the views of all who are concerned for their church at this time. All are welcome to attend the meeting in Derry's City Hotel tonight, October 24, at 8.30pm. Ample parking available.
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