http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/04/19/1050172798734.html

 

Faithful raise their voices in call for reform

April 20 2003

Melbourne Catholics are part of a global push, reports Barney Zwartz.

Lay Catholics around the world are forming strong linksin a growing movement to reform the church. In Melbourne, Catalyst forRenewal has cemented its ties with the Boston-based Voice of theFaithful.

Svea Fraser, a trustee of Voice of the Faithful andone of its founders, has been in Melbourne for the past two weeks, andspoken to local Catholics about developments in the church.

Voice of the Faithful was formed a little over a year ago when 28members of a Boston church met in outrage over the systematic cover-upof clerical sexual abuse of children in the archdiocese. Within 10months it had helped force the resignation of Boston's Cardinal BernardLaw, an unprecedented triumph for democracy over the church's hierarchy.

Todayit has more than 25,000 members in 21 countries, including 50Australians, and more than 70 affiliate groups. Official churchreaction has ranged from suspicious to hostile. Some cardinals bannedthe group from church property, calling it unchristian andanti-Catholic.

But Mrs Fraser says Voice of the Faithfuldoesn't want to overturn the hierarchy, merely make it accountable andincrease lay involvement in church affairs. "The laity are starting towake up. We do have rights, but also responsibilities . . . this awfulthing has happened but we don't just have to wring our hands, we can dosomething about it."

 

She says the group was surprised to find enormous support frompriests. The battle isn't laity against clergy but laity and clergyagainst episcopacy, she says.

Where the group focuses on theissue of sexual abuse, Catalyst for Renewal has a wider agenda. Butboth groups back the view of the church as the people, not thestructure, which was a significant development of the Vatican IIcouncil in the 1960s but which has lost ground under Pope John Paul II.

Amember of Catalyst for Renewal, Maria George, says her group willmaintain links with Voice of the Faithful because they have so much incommon. "If we're going to change the church, we have to change thepeople," she says. "There's no point trying to change the bishops. Wehave to start at ground level, and it's a slow process."

MrsGeorge, pastoral associate at St Peter's, East Bentleigh, says thediscussions with Mrs Fraser were valuable. "I felt challenged abouttaking the risk to speak out, not to be afraid, to be visible, to useyour voice, even if it comes at a cost."

Mary Williams, asupporter of Catalyst, says some Melbourne Catholics are consideringlaunching a local Voice of the Faithful group. "There's been some talkabout it, but the Australian climate and culture is so very differentto the States. What's so wonderful about this is that it's the middleground of the church, not the radical wing," she says.

MonsignorChristopher Prowse, Vicar-General of the Archdiocese of Melbourne, sayschurch authorities would be open to a Melbourne affiliate of Voice ofthe Faithful, as long as it worked with the church.

"A lot ofthe difficulties in the US have occurred because of the absence ofprotocols for dealing with sexual abuse. We in Melbourne were one ofthe first in the world to set up protocols, and they have worked verywell," he says. "If such groups could assist to make a good system workeven better we would be very open to that."