Catholic Group Marks 10 Years of Activism

By Tom Dalton
Gloucester Times
September 17, 2012

http://www.gloucestertimes.com/local/x1709879047/Catholic-group-marks-10-years-of-activism

A decade ago, as the priest sex abuse scandal rocked the Archdiocese of Boston, media reports appeared about a small group of lay Catholics meeting in the basement of a Wellesley church to share the hurt and anger they felt over the church leadership's handling of the crisis.

Miles away in Topsfield, Vince and Jolene Guerra heard the news and knew they had to do something.

So they jumped in their car and made the nearly hourlong drive to St. John the Evangelist Church in Wellesley, where they were moved by gut-wrenching accounts of abuse and by the heartfelt, thought-provoking dialogue with other Catholics. It was a trip they made many times.

It was also a heady time. Media flocked to the meetings. The national press came.

Inspired by what they heard in Wellesley, the Guerras helped organized the North Shore affiliate of Voice of the Faithful, which held its first meeting, or "listening session" as it was called then, at their home parish, St. Rose of Lima in Topsfield.

Like the many area Catholics who joined them, the Guerras felt they had to act.

"It was just the outrage of the whole thing," said Jolene Guerra, a retired social worker.

A decade later, the Guerras were among the hundreds in Boton this past weekend for the 10th anniversary conference of Voice of the Faithful. The organization now has more than 100 affiliates with more than 25,000 members in the United States and other countries, according to its website.

VOTF, the shorthand by which the group is known, was founded with three goals: to support survivors of clergy sex abuse, to support the vast majority of good priests and to work for "structural change" within the Catholic Church.

Although the group, and many others, helped bring the subject of child sex abuse and the sins of the church into a world spotlight, that last goal — structural change within the church — has proved elusive.

"I think progress has been made by keeping the whole idea that change is necessary alive," said Brendan Walsh of Salem, who, with his wife, Kay, has been a longtime VOTF member.

"It's very slow. ... It's like Sisyphus pushing the rock up the hill because you are essentially speaking to the power, and the power doesn't like to hear the truth — and the power never surrenders power gracefully."

Over the years, the North Shore affiliate has evolved. It also merged a few years ago with a group based in Newburyport and is now the North Shore-Seacoast affiliate, covering Cape Ann as well.

While it once focused almost exclusively on the crisis, with abuse survivors speaking at meetings, the North Shore-Seacoast affiliate now looks at broader church issues, hosting a series of annual lectures by Catholic theologians and others.

Next Sunday, for example, the Rev. Kenneth Himes from Boston College will speak on "Being a Responsible Catholic Voter." The 7 p.m. talk is at Immaculate Conception parish hall in Newburyport.

Contrary to some perceptions, Voice of the Faithful members say they are not rebels who took on the Catholic religion. They are devout Catholics, they say, who took on the church hierarchy over its handling of the priest sex abuse crisis — Catholics who fought, and in some cases succeeded, in getting more light to shine on the church and more voices to be heard.

"I think it helped lay people to know you can speak up, and (they) spoke up," said Jolene Guerra.

"These are Catholics who love the church," said John Gould, a VOTF member from Peabody.

Contact: tdalton@gloucestertimes.com