Catholic Lay Group Has Convention in Hartford Saturday

CT Now
April 4, 2014

http://www.ctnow.com/news/hc-votf-assembly-hartford-0405-20140404,0,256331.story

Voice of the Faithful, a lay organization pushing for structural reform in the Roman Catholic Church, has its first overall assembly in two years in Hartford on Saturday.

More than 200 people are registered to attend the conference at the Connecticut Convention Center from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. This year's theme is "Turning Talk Into Action."

"This is a great opportunity," said Jayne O'Donnell of West Hartford, development coordinator for Voice of the Faithful. She said workshops will give participants hands-on tools they can use when they return to their communities to promote reform and healing in the church.

The morning will be dominated by an address by John L. Allen Jr., a longtime news reporter covering the Vatican, who was recently named associated editor for Catholic news at the Boston Globe. Also speaking will be the Rev. Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest, author, and senior analyst for the National Catholic Reporter, an independent newspaper.

Afternoon workshops will focus on financial accountability, women in the church, clericalism and celibacy, and support for survivors of clergy sexual abuse.

The final session Saturday will be a panel discussion on healing and reform.

Voice of the Faithful, which now claims more than 41,000 members at affiliates nationwide, was formed in 2002 amid the church sexual-abuse scandal. Supporting victims remains a primary goal for the organization, which also supports "priests of integrity" and promotes structural change in the church. The group decries clericalism, which it describes as "an overriding set of beliefs and behaviors in which the clergy view themselves as different, separate, and exempt from the norms, rules and consequences that apply to everyone else in society."

Registration Saturday is $80, and walk-ins are welcome.

The organization's last assembly was two years ago, its 10th anniversary, in Boston.