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Minutes
of the Regional Meeting
Masonic Hall
Babylon,
New York
March 4, 2004
The meeting was opened with the following prayer:
On Ash Wednesday we began the Lenten season by praying Psalm 51. The First Sunday of Lent we listened to the ways Jesus overcame the temptations in the desert. Lent is an invitation and opportunity for us to enter the desert of our hearts. Let us pray for clean hearts, that we may be receptive to receive the mind of Jesus who helps us overcome our own temptations and draws us closer to the God Who loves us.
Tonight's
reading is from Psalm 51 verses 11 – 14:
Turn away your face from my sins; blot out all my guilt.
A clean heart create for me, God; renew in me a steadfast spirit.
Cast me not from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore my joy in your salvation; and a willing spirit to sustain me.
Pat Zirkel offered the following remarks.
I hope that my time up here can be brief, as we have a lot to accomplish, not the least of which is to get everyone here interested in joining one of our committees!
I'll address three issues:
- The recent reports of the John Jay College group and the National Review Board.
- The possibility of LI Voice of the Faithful meeting with Bp. Murphy's representatives to address issues; this being a result of the priests' meeting of January 19th and a recent follow-up meeting.
- The gospel value that I'll call "Reversal of Fortune."
The
February 27th Reports
The John Jay report addressed the statistics of the US Catholic sex abuse
crisis. The National Review Board (12 prominent Catholics appointed by
the Bishops to research causes of the crisis) report was issued the same
day.
Tom Myles, one of our directors, will briefly speak about the John Jay study. I will confine my remarks to three comments.
a. The John Jay researchers (who reported the statistics of numbers of victims and abusers) did not personally go to each diocese to gather their data. Instead, each Bishop was sent a form. A third party did not verify the information. (NCR 02-20-04, p. 5)
b. Nevertheless, it is reported that over 10,000 victims were abused by over 4,000 priests. Those numbers are stunning, but almost certainly under-reported, for all the reasons I just outlined.
c. The National Review Board study "concluded that the crisis was caused as much by a top-down clerical culture lacking in accountability as by the thousands of priests who preyed on children." (Newsday, Eisenberg, 02-29-04, p. A4) The study blamed the bishops for the crisis, but then left it up to those same bishops to discipline themselves by means of "fraternal correction."
I could go on, but I won't. My personal opinion is that these reports tell us little that is really new. "The more things change, the more they remain the same."
In this regard, Bruce Lambert of the New York Times this morning published a piece contrasting Bishop Murphy's recent statements as to how the diocese would be treating victims with documents concerning two lawsuits pending against the diocese now. Bishop Murphy has said that the diocese would defend itself in all court cases, but that his approach to victims would be fair, and by implication, pastoral. Instead, in both of these current cases, the diocesan defense attempts to lay at least partial blame on (in one case) the victim's parents, and in another case, the victims themselves. "The more things change, the more they remain the same."
With regard to all this, if you have any questions we can open the floor after Tom's remarks – he's up next.
A
Possible Meeting with Bishop Murphy
As most of
you probably know, the vast majority of the 50+ priests who recently
met with Bishop Murphy urged him to settle his differences with VOTF.
We are in receipt of a letter. [THE LETTER WAS READ AND COMMENTED UPON. THERE IS A COPY OF THE LETTER POSTED ON THIS WEBSITE.]
We are currently deliberating as to how we might wish to respond to this letter. I want to assure all of you that we will keep you posted with updates and news as we continue to receive it. We will also do our utmost to keep you in the loop. We will not make any decisions in a vacuum. We value your input.
Pat Zirkel asked for questions from the membership.
Q. Can
survivors participate in meeting with Bishop William Murphy?
A. This will be discussed.
Q. If parts
of the letter you just read are not negotiable, they need to be. We
won't agree to these conditions.
A. We are wording the response now.
Q. Will
the Bishop attend the meeting?
A. It does not appear that he will be involved with the meetings.
Q. Give
copies of the letter to all the members and let us write our responses
on the letter and send it back to him.
A. We will make copies for the membership.
Q. Is it
still the position of LIVOTF that Bishop William Murphy resigns?
A. Yes.
Reversal
of Fortune
How do we find some spiritual nourishment in all of this?
I was reading Mary's prayer in the gospel of Luke, chapter 1, which begins, "My soul magnifies the Lord . . . ." It goes on to praise God for "showing might with His arm . . . for scattering the proud in the conceits of their hearts," and continues: "He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, [Job 12.19] and lifted up the lowly; [Job 5.11;] He has filled the hungry with good things; [Ps 107.9] the rich He has sent away empty."
There is this theme in the Bible of reversal. That is, we see the world in one way and are dismayed at what is, at the banality of it. God sees the world as it can be, and indeed has the power to make it so — to bring down the powerful and lift up the lowly.
Jesus told a story along similar lines: A powerful man comes to a banquet and takes a seat of honor. But one more powerful than he comes in, and the host has to ask the first man to take a seat lower down in the pecking order. Jesus finishes the story by telling his disciples to take the last seats, so that the host has to come and say, "Friend, come up higher."
Well, I think the time has come when the host of the banquet, the owner of the vineyard, the Master, our own Lord is inviting those who have been the least in his Church — we, the laity — to accept greater responsibility. It is time that we demand that those who are sitting in places of honor be morally worthy of those places. It is time that we leave our seats at the foot of the table, where we used to sit passively, and go up higher. For the Lord of the banquet is inviting us to take the places which are rightfully ours.
Tom Myles was introduced to speak about the John Jay Report and the National Review.
Mr. Myles reported that the greatest number of reports of abuse in Boston, for example, is shown in the '60s, '70s and '80s. The Church takes consolation in these statistics. What they don't point out is that reports take ten (10) to twenty (20) years to come to light. This means that it will not be known for several decades if the numbers actually declined in those years.
It was also pointed out that a great deal of money is being spent on PR for the diocese on this matter. The mailing sent to all Catholic households in the diocese was cited.
Q. Can
legislation be changed to make Bishops and Priests mandatory reporters?
A. In Nassau County priests are mandated reporters. In Suffolk County
any company with contract with the county must report. State mandatory
reporting involves domicile abuse. There is nothing, by the way, on the
agenda of the Bishop's political lobby regarding legislation regarding
reporting.
Q. What
is LIVOTF doing to support changing legislation that would extend the
statute of limitations?
A. The position of LIVOTF is that we are a source of education for the
members.
Jim Godfrey was introduced to speak for the Finance Committee on the program Our Dollars Make a Difference Program.
He reminded the members that this is an important initiative and an opportunity to work to wrest some of the power from Bishop William Murphy as we would vote with our money.
The basics of the program were covered. It was reinforced that in other parishes there are members and non members alike who are going in groups to their pastors. They are explaining that while they would like to support their parishes, they want their money to stay in the parish and not go to the diocese.
"You as active members can make a difference. We can only do the best we can. I personally take the word of my pastor that he will honor my wishes.
"I challenge you to go to your pastor and force the issue. If 1,500 members have this conversation with their pastors, the point will get across."
Q. What
stops Bishop William Murphy from taking all the money from any parish?
A. Nothing. What we're trying to do is form an alliance with the priests
of integrity. I ask you to speak with those priests.
Q. I spoke
with my pastor and he said to put it in a plain envelope.
A. It is different in all parishes. Check with your pastor. In my parish,
I put it in a card and directly into his hand.
Q. The
purpose of withholding money is to get a point across. He must go and
we need structural change. Will this make a difference?
A. One pastor that we know of had to go to Bishop Murphy and inform him
that 80 families were withholding money from the diocese. If enough pastors
are put in this position, it will make a difference.
Q. If we can't trust them with our children, how can we trust them with our money?
Q. Do all
the numbers in The Long Island Catholic mean anything?
A. Yes. It means that they have at least $316 million dollars in cash
and cash equivalents.
Many want to stop giving; many are concerned for their parish. What we tried to do was satisfy as many needs as possible.
Please support the program. It will work not one bit if we don't support it.
Gene Horton spoke regarding the fact that the vigils at the Cathedral had been every Sunday in advent. Now it will be the first Sunday of every month.
The vigils start at 10:15 and end at 12:15. The vigils are prayerful and are bring encouragement from the people. Last Sunday we walked to the mansion. Bishop Murphy does not like it.
Next vigil will be March 7, followed by a vigil on Sunday, March 28, as the first Sunday in April is Palm Sunday.
On Friday, April 2, there will be a nighttime candlelight vigil at the residence. Please bring a candle.
John Ryan introduced Eileen DeWitt by reminding those in the room that an important part of what we do is to keep the abuse and cover-up in the forefront of our minds.
Eileen Dewitt related her story of abuse, as a vulnerable adult, at the hands of a priest.
Anne Kerrigan introduced Dick Ryan. Her remarks follow:
Dick Ryan writes occasionally for both Newsday and the National Catholic Reporter and over the years has written for the Brooklyn Tablet, the New York Daily News and the New York Post. He currently writes a monthly column for two separate Catholic newspapers, The American Catholic and Salt.
Prior to his retirement, he was the director of development for Little Flower Children's Service's and, before that, for the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor Health Care System. He has a master's degree in psychiatric social work from Fordham University and worked in the psychiatric clinic of Angel Guardian Home in Brooklyn before organizing the public relations and fund raising program for the Home.
As recently as 2000, he was honored by Catholic Charities in the diocese of Brooklyn wit the Thomas J. Cuite Memorial Award and has also been honored by the New York Uniformed Firefighters Association. He has also received awards from the New York Press Association and the National Catholic Press Association, the most recent of which was last year.
He has also just written a book called Holy Human, which is published by Resurrection Press.
Dick
Ryan
I'm glad that I could be here with you tonight. Originally, Bishop Murphy invited
me to have dinner with him at his mansion. But I don't have a tuxedo, so I couldn't
go. So I am here.
When I was growing up, about a hundred years ago, I always wanted to be a sportswriter. Growing up in the city as a Giants fan, I dreamed of a time when I could sit in the press box and watch players like Met Ott and Johnny Mize and, later, Willie Mays and actually get paid to write about them.
But all that changed years ago when Don Zirkel, the editor of the Brooklyn Tablet at the time, and one of the best editors ever in the Catholic press, called me and invited me to write about the Catholic Church. Now writing about religion is not quite the same as writing about Bobby Thomson's miracle home run or the second coming of Babe Ruth in the new Yankee third baseman. But like any sports story, I soon learned that writing about religion and the Catholic Church had its rewards and its disappointments, its highs and its lows, and the painful realization that some of the heroes weren't really heroes.
But after a while I found that there were a lot of similarities between sports and the Catholic Church. There were a few all-stars like Dorothy Day and Mother Teresa. And there were people like Thomas Merton and Cardinal Bernardin who could hit a home run every time at bat. And there were always stories out there about long losing streaks and those underdogs who never won much of anything in stories about the homeless and the poor in Brownsville and the AIDS patients at a Brooklyn hospital.
And in two weeks, there will be another reminder about the similarities between sports and the Catholic Church when sports fans everywhere turn their attention to the annual basketball play-offs called March Madness.
It lasts for a couple of weeks but when it's over, March Madness will never really compare with some of the madness in the Catholic church that has been around longer than we want to believe and that isn't about to end in March.
I'm talking about the madness of a hierarchy that seems much more comfortable talking about gay marriages and human cloning but who stick their heads in the sand when the dwindling number of priests, the lack of vocations and the threat of dying parishes stare them in the face every day. A hierarchy that has become a closed, good ol' boys private club that seems far more concerned with protecting and preserving their power and prestige then reaching out to the young or holding on to the countless older Catholics who are walking away because they feel that the church first walked away from them and betrayed the.
One of the saddens aftermaths of the Church's sex abuse scandal is that too many good men and women are giving up and allowing someone like Bishop Murphy to drive them out of a church where they would always be embraced in the arms of Christ and by everyone in this room. Those people, disillusioned and angry as they are, are making the saddest decision of their lives walking away from a Church in pain, a Church that needs them and reflects them and loves them.
I'm also talking about the madness of everyone sitting here tonight when we should be sitting in the nearest Catholic Church. But you have turned that upside down by demonstrating once again the undeniable truth that we are the Catholic Church, wherever we are, whether it's in a synagogue or saloon. So that tonight, we are all here, united as one body, in Our Lady of the Masonic Lodge Catholic Church, celebrating that we are, each one of us, the steel and mortar of the Catholic Church in 2004.
Bishop Murphy can ban us from our churches and our schools but, in doing so, he is actually building up the Catholic Church on Long Island, brick by brick, and creating another Catholic presence wherever we happen to be in a way that the Bishop Murphy's of this world may never really understand, or try to understand.
I'm talking too about the madness of last weeks reports that reveal all too compellingly that the twin cancers of both child sexual abuse and the abuse of authority are far deeper and deadlier than any of us wanted to believe while some of those in the hierarchy will still try to convince the world that the wounds have long since healed and disappeared even while refusing to release the names of abusive priests.
I'm also talking about the madness of almost 11,000 defenseless sexually abused children in this country since 1950. And the complete madness of even one sexually abused child, anywhere, any time.
But hopefully, the reports will get across the message that children are still in danger and children will always be in danger as long as the systematic culture of secrecy, denial and deception continue to be the 8th sacrament for he American hierarchy and as long as abusive priest and deceitful Bishops and Cardinals can fall asleep at night wit the consoling knowledge that their backs are being protected, and even blessed, at the highest levels of the Catholic Church in Rome.
And I beg to differ with Bishop Wilton Gregory in Washington who, when the two reports were released, said "the terrible history recorded here is history." Pontius Pilate probably said the same thing centuries ago when he walked away and tried not to look at what was happening out beyond his balcony. But Gregory's comment about the scandal being history is anything but true until that day when the culture of clericalism and criminal complicity among the hierarchy is finally history and until that day when every single Bishop or Cardinal who abused our trust and criminally covered up the scandal is history.
I'm also talking about the madness of too many good priests and lay people who still don't get it and who still consider the Voice of the Faithful as a bunch of rebels and dissidents in the Catholic Church today are those leaders who rebuke and manipulate every single sentence in the gospels that places sanctity before secrecy and a humble, holy priesthood before privilege and power.
Dissent today is not in the pews but in those chancery pulpits that refuse to believe that it is the people who are showing the only real leadership in the Church with the kind of loyalty and stand-up courage that some of the so-called leaders have traded in for the comforts of weakness and mediocrity and a good report card from Rome.
For all the shenanigans that we have witnessed in the last few years by a few men who have confiscated their leadership, for all the pious finger pointing and posturing by a few frightened old men, the Voice of the Faithful has demonstrated its responsibility from Baptism to reflect the mind and mission of Christ in the Church when there happens to be a gaping hole in leadership.
And you have done that, so willingly and so courageously, to the chagrin of those who no longer have the stomach to lead a Church in pain. So that real leadership in the church is not about personal charisma or organizational skills or glowing sermons. Real leadership is about following, following the vision of Christ that was there every time he sat down with children or broke bread with ordinary men and women and saw his kingdom and reveled in its future. Leadership is about filling the void that has been deserted by a few leaders who have come to the point where the only thing they want to lead is a life of privilege and power.
Today, some of our Bishops and Cardinals have a strange idea of what leadership is. For instance, to moralize and wring their hands constantly about a whole rainbow of matters involving human sexuality without ever listening to the day to day down to earth experiences of married, single, divorced, widowed and gay Catholics is not leadership.
To use the pro-life movement as a convenient and sanctimonious dodge to ignore other life issues that impact directly, and sometimes savagely, on the life and dignity of another human being in the shame of racial bigotry that is poisoning too many of their parishes is not leadership.
To preach and write pious pastoral letters about the poor and the plight of the homeless and then drape themselves in the trappings, attitude and language that would be more befitting to some medieval king is not leadership.
To apologize constantly and profusely about the scandal while insinuating that it was all unintentional and with good intentions is more laughable then it is leadership.
And finally, to pledge to the people in his diocese that he will always be decisive, single-minded and unflinching in their behalf while looking over his shoulder to make sure that the hasn't upset anyone in Rome and is still teacher's pet at the Vatican is not leadership.
But don't get me wrong. There are some excellent leaders in the hierarchy, some genuinely good, holy and sincerely caring men who have always understood that true leadership is basically service to others, and not just lip service. These are the ones who have taken Christ at his word and who understand that hey are, first and foremost, one small part of a much larger community, members of a family who are mutually nourished, energized and united by a meal that is shared equally by all in the Eucharist.
The mark of a good leader in any diocese in the 21st century should not be his ability to raise money or schmooze with the movers and shakers in the community or even his star rating at the Vatican. It is the measure by which he believes and embraces his role as the shepherd of his flock, all of his flock, all of his flock, all of his flock. All of his flock, including every man and woman in this room tonight.
And this would also include all those young people who are obviously not impressed by what they see in today's church and who no longer come. But it would appear that some Bishops have simply shrugged their shoulders and, callously and unconscionably, written off the young and older, alienated Catholics as the unfortunate casualties of the abuse scandal. Instead they prefer to walk away, shut the door and genuflect before their holy trinity of privilege, prestige and power. It is a cold and callous action that is far more cruel than any scene in Mel Gibson's movie.
The March Madness of basketball will come and go but the madness that is crippling the leadership of the Catholic church in this country is not about to disappear and go away.
So maybe if I had known then what I know now, it would have been so much easier to write about the Giants and sports than about the Catholic Church because, right now, the media is a dirty word for many of the leaders of the Church. Just as it was years ago when a Brooklyn monsignor confronted me and started yelling that I was worse than the Communists because at least the Communists stuck together.
And unfortunately, there are some people in the Church, as well as a few priests, who feel that the Voice of the Faithful is in the same class of outcasts as the media. And that's a little sad. In a recent letter sent to every pastor on Long Island in which he complains about anti-Catholicism and Catholic bashing, William Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights proclaimed: "Working in tandem with Newsday is the Long Island chapter of the Voice of the Faithful. But the Catholic League is not walking away from their battle. Moreover, it is up to Newsday and Voice of the Faithful to reverse course. If they do not, we will take further steps to checkmate their efforts."
Indeed. After hearing about that, I am prouder than ever to be a small part of both groups. Whatever Donohue's crusade of the day is, his ranting is no stop sign, not for the media and certainly not for Voice of the Faithful. And it isn't about to stop publications like America, Commonweal, the National Catholic Reporter, The American Catholic or Salt from always reporting and writing about both the good news and the bad news in the Catholic Church in 2004.
And it shouldn't stop or slow down Voice of the Faithful because you are writing a chapter in the history of the Catholic Church that is as eloquent and powerful as it is painful and truthful. You are writing a chapter in church history that will never appear in the Long Island Catholic or in most diocesan newspapers because you are a part of an evolving more courageous church that is so reflective of both a passionate and compassionate but that will never appear on the editorial page of the Long Island Catholic.
It's not just a case of galloping paranoia or raw hypocrisy in the Church but today, for many in the hierarchy, there is the patrician mindset that the media is several levels beneath their own esteemed place on the planet because nobody in the media ever studied theology or canon law and none of us has a direct line to the Vatican and therefore to God Himself. They also feel that they have an exclusive, God-given corner on "the truth" and that anyone confronting or questioning them is the enemy.
As a concrete example of this when Bishop Murphy met with 190 of his priests on January 19 at St. John the Baptist High School, any reporter found talking to a priests on the outside grounds before or after the meeting was threatened by security guards that if they persisted in their efforts to talk to any priest about the meeting, the police would be called and they would be arrested. So much for freedom of the press in the Catholic Church. So much for the First Amendment in a Church that prefers to spread "the good news" through their local diocesan newspapers that are 99% superficial, predictable, narrow and tightly controlled by the Bishop. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wouldn't have lasted a day with any of them.
Those in the church who complain about the coverage of the scandal by the media, and especially by Newsday, apparently haven't read the writing of such renowned Catholic authors such as Father Donald Cozzens, Father Richard McBrien, Eugene Kennedy, Jason Berry, Scott Appleby and Margaret Steinfels and several others who are far more forceful and compelling in their concerns than Jimmy Breslin and far more convincing than Dick Ryan.
In June of the year 2000, the United States Catholic Bishops issued a lengthy statement complaining about the "incivility" of many in the media. In their statement, they said that "a vocation to serve in the media is a vocation to serve the truth, to promote knowledge and understanding to show the charity and respect due to the dignity of each person. We urge the media: for the truth, report the truth and respect the human dignity of those about whom you report."
I won't say a word about the incivility of a John Geoghan or an Alan Placa or a Michael Hands but in an era that produces men like that along with the countless children that they abused, perhaps we might want to turn the Bishops statement around and paraphrase it in terms of the Bishops themselves.
"A vocation to serve in the hierarchy is a vocation to serve the truth, to promote knowledge and understanding and to show the charity and respect due the dignity of each person and especially every child. We urge the hierarchy: search for the truth, report the truth and respect the human dignity of those you serve, especially the young, the vulnerable and the innocent."
Instead of blaming the media for everything since the Garden of Eden, the hierarchy might try to emulate some of the professionalism and basic journalism in most of the secular press by publishing diocesan newspapers that are factual, stimulating, insightful and honest. And leave the preaching to Sunday.
But does it really matter if people like Bishop Murphy continue to complain about the media and continues his petulant little ban against Voice of the Faithful? Voice of the Faithful is going to be around long after Bishop Murphy and his successors are playing checkers in some retirement home because, for the Catholic Church, the Voice of the Faithful is the voice of the future. You know it. The parents and families of children who have been abused know it. And I suspect that Bishop William Murphy knows it as well.
Outside of the altar boys, I have never belonged to any organization in the Catholic Church. As fine as these groups are, I have never been a member of the Holy Name Society or the Knights of Columbus. The Knights of Malta have never invited me to join them and, for some strange reason, I have never received an application from the Catholic League for religious and Civil Rights. But it has been a special privilege to occasionally write about your struggle and even to be able to stand with you on a couple of occasions when you prayed and held your signs high in the freezing cold air outside of St. Agnes Cathedral. It is you who have been far more eloquent than any writer or poet by your loyalty to the Church, your advocacy for children everywhere and your courage to stand up with the kind of grit and stubborn faith that a few old fools will never understand as they curse the darkness and brazenly dare to call you the enemy.
You have become the voice of the future and the conscience of the Church by bringing the Church back home, back to true health and real intestinal holiness, back to the gut understanding of each one of us as Church, as the pulse and voice of Christ in the world and the heartbeat of the second resurrection.
But you can't stand still. You have raised your voice. Now you must expand it. There should be more young faces in this room just as there should be more black and Latino and Asian faces. There should be more instances when people can pick yup a newspaper or turn on television and hear about the outrage from Voice of the Faithful over another instance of abuse to children whether it's in the Church or whether it's in foster care, domestic violence or the schools. The voice of outrage over any instance of abuse to the family or to our children shouldn't belong only to Oprah or Bill O'Reilly or some politician looking for votes.
Perhaps it is time also to reach out for corporate support to help you reach out to an even larger audience that shares your pain and your hopes. Perhaps it is time also to invite local legislators to your meetings to help change some of the laws like the statute of limitations and other legislation that could enhance the lives of children and their families. And perhaps it is time to be a nagging presence in the offices of newspaper and television editors and in the lobbies and hotels where the Bishops have their meetings so that y0our message can be heard all the way to Rome in the same way that Opus Dei and Call to Action and Pax Christi and similar organizations knock on doors that can open other doors.
And finally, until that day when there is complete accountability within the American hierarchy and until the Bishops censure those Bishops who have sinned against our children and our Church making process of both the diocese and the parish, we should continue to ignore the Bishops Annual Appeal whether it's called the Catholic Ministries Appeal or the Jesus, Mary and Joseph Scholarship Fund and instead give your money directly to the parish so that it can give the money, directly and personally, to the poor, the sick and the elderly in your own parish. Money talks louder and far more eloquently and effectively than a dozen John Jay reports.
In March of 2004, you have been called to a special place to take on an extraordinary role in the future of the Church. So that, just as we look for accountability in the hierarchy, so also we must always be accountable to God and to each other by now leading lives that are holier and more prayerful than ever before and, hard as it may sometimes be, by trying to find a way into our hearts. I'm not the greatest example of this but otherwise all our words are hollow and we become worse than the Pharisees. And if the hierarchy ever finds it in their hearts to begin a conversation with all of the laity, then the dream of collaboration could finally become a reality.
But never ever become comfortable or satisfied, never put your light under a basket and never walk away with the notion that this is a battle to be fought by younger, more active folks who could make the Voice of the Faithful as much of a household name on Long Island as McDonalds or Home Depot. For all the white hair and bald heads in this room tonight, there are very few college or high school kids who even come close to your enthusiasm, your fire and your truly youthful dreams and hopes for your Church.
But the Voice of the Faithful is hardly a new phenomenon in the Church. It was there for the first time when John the Baptist came storming across the desert with the news that Christ is the spine and center of all authority and all power in his kingdom. It was there again when men and women like Francis of Assisi and Joan of Arc and Thomas More rose up to challenge the culture and abuse of their time and bring some semblance of integrity and mission to the church they loved. It's been there in every century and in every country where some ordinary human beings lit up the sky with the same fierce passion for reform and the same burning love of church that is in this room tonight.
As the Voice of the Faithful, you are the new architects and engineers in the Church as you try to rebuild what has been torn down by abusive priests and is still being desecrated by what Father Tom Doyle refers to as a culture of corruption among many of the hierarchy who answer to no man.
You have never been more completely Catholic than you are now in embracing the bold vision of Pope John XXIII for the laity as you step forward in your ordinary lives with the very extraordinary roles of apostles, prophets and true evangelizers in a Church that needs to hear your voice.
And perhaps more so than few others in the Church today, you understand better then most what the Jesuit Father Walter Modrys recently wrote: "Something has happened in our Church that no one could have anticipated four decades ago at the beginning of the Second Vatican Council. I believe that God is leading us into a new land on a journey that seems as uncertain as it is arduous. The old strategies and ways of doing things are simply breaking down. For some, this may seem a pessimistic note but really, if you think about it, what could be more optimistic and hopeful than to say that God is leading us wherever He wants to take us? Wherever we end up, we can be confident that God will make his Church an even more effective sacrament of His Son's presence in the world."
Right now, it would seem that the journey has taken us into the desert with a long road ahead. But just as the Voice of the Faithful has been the voice of hope throughout all the darkness of the last few years, so now your voice and your spirit can help lead the Church out of the desert and into a new down. Throughout the long journey that is still ahead, the call for strong, committed leadership in the Church will have many opportunities and many challenges and many faces. And today, at the beginning of this journey and the beginning of a new and exciting era in the life of the Church, most of those faces belong to you.
A few years ago, Jimmy Valvano, the legendary basketball coach who once won the final game of a March Madness, said something to his fans near the end of his life that has special meaning here tonight for everyone in this room: Don't give up. Don't give up.
Mr. Ryan answered question from the membership.
Q. Keep writing = don't stop.
Q. How
come Boy Scouts can keep out pedophiles and we cannot?
A. Don't know any numbers on that.
Q. Will
this talk be on the website?
A. Yes, it will be included in the minutes.
Q. Pope John XIII should be the patron saint for Voice of the Faithful.
Q. Didn't
you meet will Msgr. McNamara?
A. Yes, I met with him at the rectory. He did not agree with some writings of
mine. He felt I had been hard on Bishop William Murphy. This was a casual conversation.
Q. VOTF
should consider corporate sponsors.
A. VOTF should approach and use PR and fund-raising.
Mr. Ryan received a standing ovation at the conclusion of his talk.
Pat Zirkel reminded the membership that the next regional meeting would be Tuesday, April 13, 2004. The speaker will be Jim Post.
All members were urged to visit the VOTF website and sign the petition calling for accountability.
The Committee Fair was explained and the needs of each committee were described.
The meeting was ended with prayer.
Respectfully
submitted,
Janet Godfrey