BishopAccountability.org
	Voice of the Faithful Opened Its New Year Thursday The Hour September 11, 2011 http://www.thehour.com/story/511033/voice-of-the-faithful-opened-its-new-year-thursday The Voice of the Faithful in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport opened its new year Thursday night with a pep talk from a Harvard-educated Roman Catholic well connected in Rome with practitioners of Canon Law. Peter Borre of Charleston, Mass., currently working with a half dozen such lawyers based there, fighting to prevent the sale of several churches in the Northeast, explained to the local VOTF members how it is done while providing them with a blueprint for action should it be needed in this diocese. Although well aware of the VOTF movement, Borre chose to create a separate Council of Churches in the Boston area as the vehicle to prevent closure of scores of churches deemed superfluous by the Boston Archdiocese after it was grievously wounded financially by settlements resulting from the priestly sexual abuse scandal. The timing of his appearance here coincided with recent news from Rome that the highest church court had reversed the closure of a church in upstate New York that had been initiated by a diocesan bishop. "That was certainly pleasant to hear," said Borre, who speaks to his cadre of canon lawyers in Rome on an almost a daily basis. Borre, a 73-year-old energy consultant with experience in government and the private sector, developed an early familiarity with the Vatican and Roman life during childhood residence there when his father was employed as a lawyer and regularly entertained papal personnel and Italian government and business leaders. As sketched by the speaker after scores of skirmishes, America's 350-plus bishops have developed countless strategies to a deal with the sexual abuse scandal and its subsequent financial drain on church finances. He cited several instances of failed attempts by parishioners to keep their churches open because of stratagems used against them by their bishops. Bishopric attempts to close five churches in the Boston archdiocese have been stymied by 7/24 vigils established by Burre's Council of Churches. "If the buildings hadn't been occupied around the clock, the archdiocese would have changed the locks and then it would have become a case of breaking and entering to re-establish occupation," he said in an aside. Such vigils require a volunteer force of 30 for each church based on two-person coverage. It was noted that Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport has appointed a committee to study the financial viability of the 87 parishes in the diocese. One 50 attendees at the First Congregational Church on the Green likened the efforts of VOTF and COC to what is going on the Middle East. "Except we are not seeking power," said John Lee of Bridgeport, a leader of the eight-year-old VOTF. "Here, we are merely seeking a dialoque with the bishop, but he has even denied us the use of our own churches for our meetings." VOTF meets at 7:30 p.m. second Thursdays 10 months of the year at the church.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.