Voice of the Faithful
April 18, 2008
http://votf.org/
Last week, VOTF President Dan Bartley sent a letter to Pope Benedict reiterating the message presented in our New York Times ad, introducing Voice of the Faithful and our mission, and inviting him to lead the transformation we see as essential for the Church. You can read a copy of that letter here . It was sent through the Papal Nuncio and thus may be read even while the Pope is still here visiting.
As a follow-up to the letter, we will be sending our petition via the Papal Nuncio to the Pope at the end of the month. Then we will report on the petition to all the U.S. bishops.
Obviously, numbers will make a difference in this effort. Too often we hear that VOTF speaks for only a tiny minority of the Church, that "most Catholics" are happy with the way things are going, that only a few of us care about protecting our children from abuse, achieving financial transparency, using the knowledge and skills of the laity to improve our faith communities, or holding bishops accountable.
We don't think that's true. To the contrary, we believe that most lay people and many clergy as well prefer transparency and accountability in their parishes and dioceses. We think most adult Catholics prefer to be treated as adult members of the Church. We think most Catholics fear that the Church we hope our children and grandchildren will embrace is no longer a Church governed by compassion, informed by justice, and empowered by equality.
If you see these same problems, and envision the same solutions outlined in our petition, please sign it now. Then ask your friends and family to sign also, or print it out and bring it with you the next time you attend Mass and collect signatures there.
To make our voices heard, we must speak up. The petition is one way you can add your voice and be heard.
Peace,
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Executive Director, VOTF Inc.
P.S. If you have not had a chance to see the full-page ad that ran in the New York Times, click here for a smaller-scale version.
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