Melville, NY:  Over 500 members of Voice of the Faithful attended a 2-day national conference of the group, October 30 and 31, 2009.  It was hosted at the Huntington Hilton by Long Island VOTF, an affiliate of the country-wide church reform group.  “It was an inspiring and encouraging event”, said Joan Hopkins, co-chair of the Long Island group. 
    
The conference began on Friday evening with presentations of VOTF’s new “Voices in Action” initiative, designed to elicit vigorous response from Catholics around the country to continue their efforts and to reform the structure of the church, aid victims of abuse and support priests of integrity. They are a set of programs created around areas of interest expressed by a survey of members, and include not only the three just mentioned but additional areas of fostering appropriate lay spirituality and developing strong links with other reform organizations in the American church.  “These programs,” Hopkins said, “should help us to energize and encourage our members.” 
   
 The Friday evening program concluded with a special presentation made by the Vigiling group from LI-VOTF, who recounted their efforts in organizing silent, prayerful vigils at St. Agnes Cathedral and selected parishes in the diocese calling for continued efforts to help victims of the sexual abuse by priests.  Participating in this special report were Leo Cuomo and Lisa Braglia, co-chairs of the committee, along with Marie Natoli, Dominick Natoli and Dick Regan, a survivor who eloquently and passionately told about the abuse suffered by his siblings and himself. 
   
 The evening concluded with the presentation of a special posthumous Award Certificate and gift to Jill Kern, widow of founding member Joseph Kern, who devoted his time and energy to helping victims and their families in overcoming the aftermaths of sexual abuse. This award will be presented every year to a person who has devoted time and energy to the victims’ cause.
   
 Saturday events began with a featured talk by Sr. Joan Chittister, O.S.B., who offered new insights into the nature of leadership with the church.  She emphasized that power and leadership are not synonyms, and that leaders should lead in ways they themselves would be happy following. She also stated that “real reform brings people together, does not pit one group against another,” a message that sent attendees standing in ovation at the end of her address.
     
On Saturday afternoon attendees heard Father Thomas Reese, S.J., the former editor of American Magazine who was pressured to resign by the Vatican.  He offered a set of six guidelines for understanding and questioning church teachings and pronouncements. Among them: carefully examine what is said; “know the history of your church,” and the historical setting and context in which they are offered; remember that non-infallible teachings are just that.  He also encouraged his listeners to see the good within the institution of the church.   He asked members to avail themselves of the social justice opportunities within the church, to be mindful of the importance of prayer and scripture reading/study and to recognize the importance of being a welcoming community within their own parishes.  Lively question and answer sessions followed each address.   

During lunch, attendees were asked by Margaret Smith, a member of the John Jay College group exploring the causes of sexual abuse for their help in solving the mystery around the abuse crisis: “How could such a moral lapse have been ignored at the time?” The Long Island leaders said “we will continue to press this issue until it is resolved satisfactorily.” 

At the conclusion of the exciting day, Joan Hopkins invited attendance at LI-VOTF’s regional meeting on November 19th to be held at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock, Manhasset, NY.  The meeting will feature a discussion of the October national meeting and a talk by Marian Ronan PhD, a visiting scholar at New York Theological Seminary on the continuing influence of Vatican II and related issues.

Prepared by Patricia Paone and Nancy Massaro, LIVOTF Media Relations