Lay Catholic group marks 5 years of battling Boston Archdiocese over church abuse
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Page Category: 2007 January
http://www.examiner-enterprise.com/articles/2007/01/08/news/national/news965.txt
Lay Catholic group marks 5 years of battling Boston Archdiocese over church abuse
| News |
Lay Catholic group marks 5 years of battling Boston Archdiocese over church abuse
By KEN MAGUIRE Associated Press Writer
WELLESLEY,Mass. (AP) - Leo Troy recalls five years ago when the pastor of hischurch invited parishioners to the front pews to discuss revelationsthat the Boston Archdiocese had covered up decades-long abuses bypedophile priests.
The Roman Catholic church, he said, didn'tusually air its problems publicly. So along with feeling angry becauseof the scope of the abuse, Troy also felt empowered.
"It reallymoved a lot of people to talk about it more," he said. "It's aworldwide problem. That's why this organization came together."
Voiceof the Faithful is marking its fifth anniversary this weekend. Whatstarted as a handful of outraged parishioners at St. John theEvangelist Church in Wellesley has grown to an internationalorganization that claims tens of thousands of members.
Initiallyseen as a rebel group, it called for the resignation of CardinalBernard Law, who took responsibility for sheltering abusers. But Voiceof the Faithful has since evolved into a more buttoned-downorganization.
Its leaders are preparing for their second meetingwith Cardinal Sean O'Malley, who succeeded Law after he resigned underpressure in 2002. O'Malley has been praised for his efforts to help thevictims; he helped negotiate an $85 million settlement for more than550 of them shortly after arriving in Boston.
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"What we're trying to do is set up a system forcollaboration on issues of mutual concern," said Dorothy Kennedy,president of the Boston Voice of the Faithful council. "We're bothconcerned about the protection of children. We're both concerned aboutjustice for survivors. We're both concerned with rebuilding the church."
Criticssay Voice has become too cozy with the church that it says it is tryingto reform. Skip Shea of Uxbridge, who says he was abused by a formerpriest of the Worcester Diocese, said church leaders will exploit themeeting with Voice members for public relations.
"Each diocesecan use lip service to say they're moving forward with this. I don'tsee the point in sitting with them," Shea, 46, said Saturday as hestood outside St. John's, where Voice of the Faithful held a "Mass ofRemembrance and Rededication."
He and several others said Voiceshould devote more time to helping victims, some of whom can't go in achurch because it triggers too many painful memories.
Voice'sgoals are to support abuse victims, support priests of integrity andshape structural change in the church, such as more community controlof parishes.
Kennedy defends the organization's tactics, arguingthat direct negotiations with O'Malley are the best hope for changes.Voice and sex abuse survivor groups have pushed O'Malley to develop apublic list of archdiocese priests and employees dismissed for sexualmisconduct and to publicly support the elimination of the statute oflimitations for sex crime laws.
"The last meeting was productivein that we began a conversation," she said. "If that turns intostructures so that we can have ongoing dialogue and work together ...that would be terrific."
Kennedy acknowledges the momentum fromthe early years has slowed as some Voice members branch out to fightthe archdiocese's widespread church closings. But, she said, there is a"strong, steady core."
It was five years ago that The BostonGlobe began a series of stories that exposed the scope of the sex abusecrisis. The nation's fourth largest Roman Catholic archdiocese wasshaken when court documents showed that church leaders protectedpedophile priests by transferring them from parish to parish, ratherthan removing them and alerting police.
The Rev. John Connolly,special assistant to O'Malley, said the revelations had a "traumaticand devastating effect" on the archdiocese, which experienced declinesin financial donations and attendance at Mass.
Barbara Thorp,director of the archdiocese's office of Pastoral Support and Outreach,said her office coordinates mental health counseling for about 300victims. Last month, the office began a monthly Mass for survivors.
"Thebreach of trust was so profound that the task of rebuilding that trustis daunting," she said. "It can't be bought. It's going to take sometime."
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