Bishop & Catholic Charities Reverse “Banning” of Lay Reform Group from Church Property

Portland, Maine, VOTF – Dec. 18, 2003 – In a dramatic turnabout, the Catholic Diocese of Portland, Maine, is reversing its earlier shunning of the lay reform group, Voice of the Faithful (VOTF). Signs of thawing relations between VOTF include two major developments.

First: at a Dec. 8 board meeting, Catholic Charities-Maine reversed its highly controversial ban on VOTF from renting space at its St. Paul's Center in Augusta, Maine.

Second: in a sworn deposition in Sept., 2003, regarding Catholic Charities’ refusal to provide domestic partnership benefits as a condition for receiving grant funding from the City of Portland, Bishop Joseph Gerry repudiated his earlier stated opposition to Voice of the Faithful, saying, under oath, “If any pastor of a church who is familiar with the people…Voice of the Faithful wants to have a meeting and he's willing to accept responsibility and meet with them and have sessions, then I have no objection. ….”

Bishop Gerry’s statement in the deposition directly contradicts his May 2003, statement, “It is premature for the Diocese or individual parishes to take any action that would imply endorsement of VOTF.” This had been Gerry’s position on VOTF since the group’s founding in May 2002.

Further good news: On the parish level, VOTF Portland has been invited to meet at a parish in Portland. Other affiliates in the Diocese of Portland meeting in parishes include St. Joseph’s in Ellsworth, St. Francis in Belfast, Most Holy Trinity in Saco and St. Joseph’s in Gardiner.

However, the Diocese of Portland still contains pockets of resistance to VOTF, the lay reform group which came into being as a result of the clergy sexual abuse crisis, and which seeks structural changes to assure that clerical abuses of power and cover-up by bishops can never recur. Despite welcoming signs elsewhere in the Diocese, Rev. James Nadeau at the Cathedral continues to refuse to allow VOTF to meet on parish property.