Mcs Bruce Publishes Book about Voice of the Faithful, Daily Times, February 25, 2011

Mc’s Bruce Publishes Book about Voice of the Faithful

Daily Times
February 25, 2011

http://www.thedailytimes.com/Blount_Life/story/MC%E2%80%99s_Bruce_publishes_book_about_Voice_of_the_Faithful_id_008290

Dr. Tricia C. Bruce, assistant professor of sociology at Maryville College, has recently published “Faithful Revolution: How Voice of the Faithful is Changing the Church.”

A book launch and signing will be held from 5-6 p.m. Thursday in the Clayton Center for the Arts’ William Baxter Lee III Grand Foyer. The book will be available for purchase during the event.

Bruce, whose research interests include the sociology of religion, Catholic identity, social movements and organizations, gives an in-depth look at the development of Voice of the Faithful, a national movement of lay Catholics that mobilized in response to the crisis of child abuse by clergy in the Catholic Church.

The abuse scandal in the Catholic Church gained national attention after the Boston Globe published a series of reports in January 2002 that revealed widespread allegations of child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in Boston and the efforts of the church to cover it up.

“It was not only about the abuse of children by clergy, but also the transferring of abusive priests from parish to parish, so it was perceived by some as institutional complicity, meaning the church was not helping to prevent it — in fact, they were actually doing things that made it worse,” Bruce said.

The crisis became such a major media event that one bishop referred to it as “our 9/11.”

Voice of the Faithful emerged after a small group of Catholics, still reeling from the news, gathered in the basement of a parish in Wellesley, Mass., to mourn and react.

“These people were longtime Catholics who were just heartbroken to hear this news,” Bruce said. “To see their church portrayed in this light, to realize that this abuse had been happening — they had no idea. So they gathered and started to react, and it was when more and more Catholics came together and started to talk about this and then eventually advocate for change within the church that this movement was born.”

The group took on three primary goals: supporting victims of sexual abuse by clergy; supporting what they called “priests of integrity,” or non-abusive priests; and supporting structural change in the Catholic Church to prevent further abuse. The movement grew to more than 30,000 members nationwide.

Bruce began her research on the movement in 2002, while a doctoral student at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

She came across a flyer that asked whether a chapter of Voice of the Faithful should be formed in Santa Barbara. She was intrigued, so she attended the meeting that was held at one of the local Catholic churches.

Immediately, Bruce began taking field notes. Her three-year study is based on her observations at Voice of the Faithful affiliates throughout the country, including California, Washington, D.C., and Virginia.

Bruce also attended conferences in San Francisco, New York and Indianapolis. She conducted 50 in-depth interviews with movement participants, including survivors of abuse, priests, and lay Catholics involved in the movement.

Bruce said the main sociological contribution of the book is that Voice of the Faithful illustrates what she calls an intrainstitutional social movement. Most of the writing and literature in social movements has looked at social movements that target “big-picture things,” such as the state or politics, Bruce explained. Movements that are happening inside of institutions like churches or schools often aren’t counted as social movements.

“So part of what I’m doing is saying ‘This counts — this is also a social movement,’” Bruce said.

For more information about Bruce’s book, visit http://faithfulrevolution.com.

Those interested in purchasing the book can find it locally at the Maryville College Bookstore or online at www.amazon.com, www.bn.com or www.oup.com.

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