Dan Bartley, in his opening remarks, stated that LIVOTF is so pleased to have Pamela Hayes speaking at the meeting. Dan introduced John Ryan from Victim Support Committee.

John Ryan, Victim Support, introduced George Harkin to remind our members that VOTF came to be as a response to the abuse of children and the cover-up by those in charge. Victim Support Committee seeks to keep this in the forefront. John Ryan states that as an attorney George Harkin has tried many cases, selected juries and spoken before judges, but in speaking to this group he is nervous. This goes to the problem and horrible nature of this abuse.

George Harkin.

Good evening.
Thank you for inviting me. I have been to VOTFmeetings, your may not agree with what I have to say. I don't know that there are any priests of integrity.

I was the first person to testify before the Grand Jury. Fr. Gene Volmer molested me. Gene Volmer moved from parish to parish and in many instances introduced me as his brother which gave him access to me there in private. I was in St Joes in Ronkonkoma and went to St. Joes School. The priest at the time knew who I was. I saw him in 2002 and I said to him I expect to see Gene on the cover of Newsday any day. When I told him I was a victim, he said he did not know. Other priests, who should have known, said they did not know. I was not the most popular in school, but not lonely, happy with my friends. Volmer was a Deacon when he first came to parish, on his way to becoming a priest. I went through Catholic school. I don't blame education system. This deacon would come to dinner at my house, trusted by my parents. In those days, my father was working in construction. It was slow here on Long Island and so he went to work out of state.

At one point, Gene Volmer asked to take me on vacation and my Mother asked my father, and thinking this would be a great opportunity for me, he gave his permission. I never told anyone what happened to me. Then one day I went to the mailbox and picked up the Newsday and there was Gene on the front page. I walked to the house and told my wife we had to talk. I was glad for the first time that my Mother was dead so that she did not have to know.

I am glad that this group started, the church needs to be taken back. I may not be the one to do it as I have little faith in the men who stand on the altar. I am at St Johns, my kids go to CCD there and I have a priest who sues his parishioners. This has not been open season on priests, it has not been for no reason, we don't want pedophiles in our church, or anywhere. There was once a sportscaster for a game between the Mets and the Phillies. When the Mets finally won the game 10 to 9, the sportscaster yelled "They win; they finally win the damn thing."

He apologized the next night for using the word and a commentator said it was the best use for the word since Clark Gable. I am damn angry.

I am told by my therapist that I have post traumatic stress.

I get up very early so I don't dream. Then Gene doesn't come back to me. With me tonight is my friend Chuck, we met 20 years ago. After every therapy session he is there for me. I am thankful for him. The TLIC goes after Newsday, but the TLIC won't print the facts.

I am thankful for Newsday.

I am thankful for you and this organization.

My kids wanted money for the collection and I do not give. Give nothing. If every parish had to tell the diocese we have zero in our collection plate

And the diocese had to tell Rome, let them sell off what they have so that they get the message.

Pat Zirkel discussed the results of survey.

Principal Speaker - Pamela Hayes,
assistant DA in Brooklyn, former Public Defender in NJ and presently member of the Lay Review Board

Pleased to be welcomed by people from home.

I was honored to serve on national review board. When I was an asst DA at the Brooklyn DA's office, I was in the children's bureau. I have been a catholic since I was four. I have participated in CYO, went to St Aloysius and then was taught by the Dominicans. I have a history.

When I came home from law school in 1980, my pastor was always saying get involved. I was introduced to the man who led the office of black ministries. He turned out to be the new Archbishop Cardinal O'Connor. He became a wonderful friend to me. His leadership caused me to get involved. We had problems that no one knows because it is kept secret in the Catholic Church. He gave me an opportunity to get involved.

I will just talk to you about involvement. It is important that you all speak for the laity. You are the voices of the people in the pews. They are never going to allow us to cede that power from them. What can I say to encourage you all to continue to participate? My term with lay review board ends in 2005. We knew we needed to tell the truth, this is a horrendous situation when you have priests who are supposed to bring Christ's message abusing our children.

I went to Washington constantly, listening to all people, victims, parents, SNAP Victim advocate programs. Listening, trying to get a grip on what caused this problem. One of the basic reasons this came to the forefront is that it is so awful. They did not realize how hurtful this problem was. What it had done to the body of the Catholic Church. Imagine how you can still hold yourself to the level of what Christ wanted for us, but we did

The report gave historical background, statistics, and we put it out there and it went back for 50 years. One of the things not dealt with in the report is what do we do with the priests who say they are innocent. They have been sitting around. The bad ones have stood up, but there are still a group of priests who are innocent and we owe them. They have been there for us over the years and we need to address the innocent people who fall through the cracks. Like in the Salem trials, we need to be careful.

As a body you have to go to Bishop Murphy and ask what he is doing to ensure justice. You have leverage, without us they don't exist. This scandal has shown us that there are a lot of problems in our church that were brought to the forefront by the sex abuse scandal.

Whether it is children, stealing funds, not involving the laity. If I offend the leaders, what will they do, I am not a Catholic because of them.

Decide what you want to do. A lot of people thought the lay review board would be more like VOTF. The Bishops gave us our mandate, we did the best that we could. We are there to set things up and to point things out to the bishops and to tell them that if they don't do this there will be a problem. When the press got a hold of the fact that they wanted to disband the board that changed because of people speaking out. Everyone appreciates the fact that you are all out there and that you are doing what you are doing. My main worry now is that there is no process in place for the innocent priests. I know of a priest who has exculpating evidence and is still waiting for a trial in Rome. This is not Christ like, not Christian and not American. We have about five people leaving, if you want to be a part of the board, call me. You are all very special.
Thank you for the work you have been doing.
Keep holding their feet to the fire.

Q: Kathleen Mchesney hired Bill Gavin. He refused to give information when asked. I was told no lay participation and no lay advocacy group in the audit. When will the audit take place and can we be involved in the audit. Why does it take so long for the results to be released?

A: It can't be immediately released. We have 394 dioceses. At the end we compile and then send them out. This year they have started and they will come out in a six month time period. I don't understand what type of participation you want?

Q: Who did auditors speak with? Meet with victims that haven't been chosen by the diocese.

A: This audit is an audit of the diocese to make sure that their rules are in compliance. I can make sure that they let you know when it is and find out why lay participation is not available. An audit is to make sure that they are doing what they are required to do. They speak with the person in charged of priest personnel. Sometimes they talk to the bishops. Not an IRS type audit where they are talking to the individual taxpayer. I will ask Kathleen if we can put some mechanism in place where we can speak with the laity. My office number is 212 687 8724 I can give you info on who to contact.

Q: The NRB, is it ongoing - will it be here ten years from now? We should never be without it.

A: Right now the last term will be 2007. You need to keep a group in place that is doing something, as long as we have a task. We were assigned by the Bishops, so you need to keep the need up. Keep up the public pressure.

Q: Work is extremely important. Who is coming on as a member? Does the current board choose?

A: We have made recommendations.

Q: What is your best sense of the likelihood of sex abuse prevention programs being taught in the diocese of Rockville Centre.

A: They don't talk about sex!! That was not one of our charges. Our description was very narrow. Maybe Kathleen's office covers that. They had a problem in NYC and didn't want sex ed in the school There are some programs in place, check with your diocese. Find out what is in place.

Q: Are there any sanctions for those not complying - what is your view re some diocese not complying?

A: There are no sanctions that we can do. You can withhold your p money. The biggest sanction is the publicity. They don't like to be brought out to the public. That is the true leverage. It worked.

Q: Does your report go to Bishop Gregory?

A: Every Bishop gets this report and they do whatever it is they do with it. They are going to have a new head of the conference as of November.

Q: There is no screening at the seminary - the screeners are ineffective. The Boy scouts can screen out the homosexuals and pedophiles. Is the screening any better?

A: This went back 50 years, as the years progressed they got better at it. It had not been effective. Dr. Paul McQue, noted psychiatrist, believes they are trying to cope with it. It is decreasing in volume. As we monitor it seems to be getting better. It was a small percentage of individuals. We are doing an epidemiological study and that will lead to the real problem and prevent as much as possible.

Q: One priest here blew the whistle was out on sabbatical and they cut off his medical insurance. Now he keeps his mouth shut.

A: That is unfortunate, but that is what I mean when I say we need to back out priests. This was painful. Support that priest. The church needs to give him support.

Q: You said this is an audit of the bishops and you are not getting the input other than from the bishops who say they are in compliance. Write Ray Siegfried he is the chairman of this committee.

Q: You said to support the priests, where are the priests of integrity? How can we make them come together as a unit? Why are they letting themselves been bamboozled?

A: We have also been bamboozled. They have ministered to us as anything but peers. We need to find out who the people are who are maintaining their innocence.

Q: Indict them under RICO! They covered up, lied, took money.

A: Remember when the DA did the white paper? That is the closest you are going to get to an indictment. It is difficult under the laws of the state of NY. The statute of limitations is an issue. My own opinion, from henceforth, anything ten years back you may be able to do some thing. Put your energy toward prevention.

Liaison Team:Anne Kerrigan.

Wanted to give you an update as to where we are. We have had two meetings. The first was an icebreaker. The second covered the loss of trust, bishop's appeal; Dollars make a Difference, resignation of BWM. We distributed folders which contained documentation re LIVOTF. All the topics that I mentioned were not discussed at length. At the end of the second meeting, both sides agreed that there was a loss of trust between hierarchy and the laity.

Second meeting ended with decision that VOTF would confer with board and they would confer with Bishop Murphy and then be in touch with each other. The board came to the decision that the talks should continue. We also wanted to use this opportunity to find out just what the bishop has a problem with us. The issue of the Bishops resignation will come up again. No decision regarding that will be made without your input. Read letter to Sr. Janet, rep of the Diocesan Team.

Stating that VOTF had decided that further dialogue would be beneficial. I called their attention to the folders containing the documents given by VOTF team explaining all positions held by our organization. Included bio of all on team as well as activities we have done since we have been in existence. Monday August 2 and August 10 were offered and no response was received. I asked for confirmation and did receive that but no answer regarding the dates.

Sent follow-up and still no answer. But this is the summer and many priests are on a month's vacation.

We are going to wait until August 19 and then we will send a follow-up letter.

We are being proactive in respect for the priests who signed the letter. We are presuming until it is clear that the meetings are at an impasse that there is still hope.

The issues discussed will be revealed. As soon as we get another letter, it will be on the website.

Q: How will this trust be rebuilt?

A: WE ask that you be patient with this process. This didn't happen overnight and now we are questioning their actions.

Q: Shouldn't the fact that we have asked for his resignation signify that there is no trust.

A: We will not take the request for the reconsideration of the call for his resignation without great input from the members. Thank you

Kevin Connors, Finance Committee

Look behind me and this is our new banner. The first time it is displayed out here on LI where we really got started. I want to talk to you about two issues.

First, we maintain three funds. We have 19,000 in our operating fund. Rent, printing of newsletter, insurance, website, mailing, etc. are all supported by this fund. The second, the Voice of Compassion Fund, is our charitable fund for those who feel they want to support Catholic charities but not through the diocese. This fund recently has sent donations of $1,000 to St Vincent De Paul, $500 to SNAP and a donation to Christa House.

Total lists of all disbursements we have made are listed on the website.

Third fund is a tri state account and doesn't' really belong to us. NY, LI, Conn and NJ form the Tri-State. When opportunity arises when we need to act, this group meets.

Running any organization such as VOTF to bring financial openness and accountability is not an easy task - it takes work, sweat and also money.

There are envelopes in back please take one, write us a check and send it off to us.

Thank you.

Bill McCully, Vigils Committee

Our new idea is Hotspot vigils now called special vigils. We will come to specific parish with special issues. It can be pastoral counsel issue, financial issues.

We will hand out information regarding VOTF and the specific issue. The Vigil Committee will be meeting with the prayer team. We need your bodies. We need you to come out and support this.

We need to know where these issues are arising. If you are interested in one of these vigils at your parish. The criteria would be your request, that the issue be consistent with our goals. We would need to know who the parish point person is and a week to arrange this.

Stations of Cross 730pm Aug 23 St Agnes. Bring a flashlight and a friend.

Thank you

Tom Myles, Compliance

One of the highlights of the strategic plan was to make sure that the diocese was in compliance. We have gotten a number of replies to our survey.

Maria Regina has sent many responses that are positive.

The compliance committee needs volunteers to assist in various tasks. Please contact me.

Thank you

Phil Megna, Planning and events

There was a meeting last night and decided that we have two types of events. Like masses, etc and annual events. We need volunteers for the monthly, bi monthly events - masses, picnics, etc. Please volunteer.

Thank you.

Pat Zirkel- Please become a more prayerful voice. Sometime in May or June I was struck by the profit Elijah. As the chapter begins there is a terrible draught.

He sends his servant to look for rain clouds seven times. The seventh time he reports having seen a small cloud. When the rain comes, it rains torrents.

That spoke to me about us. We are the little cloud of VOTF but we are a sign of what is coming. We may look inconsequential, but the rain will fall and renew the church because The way He renewed the land. He will send what He knows we need. We are only a means to an end. God sent the rain to Elijah, and God sent us here today. Our job is to be who we are - people who believe the rescue is coming and we will prepare the way for God. Keep up the good work

Next week September 9 Manhasset.

We will have a tape of Tom Doyle it is a good tape and is professionally presented. We need to explore alternate meeting sites in Suffolk County.

There is a meeting on September 12 at St. Anne's in Brentwood. Donald Cuzzins is speaking, this has been arranged by VOTO.

The meeting was closed with prayer led by John Young.