OPENING PRAYER — led by Gene Zirkel

Right at the beginning of our Lenten journey, today’s Gospel issues a challenge to all of us. Let us listen to a portion of today's reading from Luke 9, verses 22 & 23:

Then Jesus added, “The Son of Man must suffer many things. He will be rejected by the elders and chief priests and teachers of the law, and put to death. Then after three days, he will be raised to life.”

Jesus also said to all the people, “If you will be a follower of mine, deny yourself and take up your cross each day, and follow me.”

Today, as members of Voice of the Faithful, we are called to take up our own crosses. And so we call upon the Lord who is our strength and our hope as we respond to each petition with:
Lord, help me carry this cross...

Leader: Taking up the cross of Charity towards all, including victims, perpetrators and church leaders...
Response: Lord, help me carry this cross

Leader: The cross of remaining faithful to your church, which Vatican II has taught us, is always in need of reform... Response: Lord help me carry this cross

Leader: The cross of humility in our struggle to be reconciled with all people in our divided church... Response: Lord, help me carry this cross.

Leader: Merciful God, grant us courage, wisdom and fortitude as we respond to the challenge to take up our cross daily and follow Your Son.
In Jesus’ Name we pray...
Amen


ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMARKS — Pat Zirkel

Thank you all for coming out on a night without cooperative weather!

It’s a known fact that people can get lost in their work, and forget that others may not be clued in to what’s going on with that work. It has become apparent to us in leadership that we’ve fallen down on the process of letting you in on what we on the Board of Directors actually do with our time — other than read e-mail, at any rate. So I’ve taken on the task of bringing you all up to date every month, here at Regional meetings, on recent Board decisions.

First of all — and I think this has already been announced on a couple of occasions — we decided last fall to spend less of our time focused on Bishop Murphy, and more time focused on our mission and goals. Our Liaison team will deal with any interaction with the Bishop’s agents, and Anne Kerrigan will have a brief update for you on that score in a little while.

Starting with the November Board meeting, we have been posting the minutes of Board meetings on our website. November and December are there now, and January’s minutes will be posted as soon as these are approved at the next meeting. Meeting times and location of Board meetings are also posted.

To very briefly list some of the “highlights” of the last few Board meetings:

In November:
• We elected officers. Dan and I were re-elected as Co-chairs, and Kevin Connors and Janet Godfrey were re-elected Treasurer and Secretary, respectively. There are two other members of our Executive Committee: Joan Bedosky and Anne Kerrigan.
• We decided to invite a number of non-Board members to meetings: these are persons who are responsible for committee work, but whose committees have no Board representation. It’s a means of keeping in touch.

In December:
• Many financial matters were discussed. You’ve been apprised of all of this by mail.
• Some Membership initiatives were discussed. You’ll be hearing more about these soon.
In January:
• More Membership initiatives were discussed. The Board voted to adopt a program called “One-on-One” that comes out of Boston. A demonstration and explanation of this will be coming soon to a PV near you.
• We’ve also been discussing the organizing of a Nominating Committee to put forth candidates for Board elections next October. It is early, but we feel it’s important. That issue has not yet been resolved.
• You can read all the exciting rest on the website!


PRINCIPAL SPEAKER — Rabbi Howard Diamond

[Introduced by Pat Zirkel]: Rabbi Howard Diamond comes from Congregation Beth David, Lynbrook, Long Island. He and his wife Frances currently live in Woodmere. They have been married for 26 years and are the parents of 7 children (6 girls and 1 boy) ranging in age from 9 to 25. Rabbi Diamond will speak about his personal experience as the parent of a sexually abused child. As Rabbi of this congregation since 1998, he has re-established the Hebrew School, created a number of children's and teenager programs, and established the first adult Bat Mitzvah program in the history of the synagogue. He is also chaplain of the Lynbrook Fire Department.


Sex Abuse in the Jewish Community: Stonewalling and Denial

All present would agree his talk was good for us to hear. His entire family’s life changed when his 11-year-old son was brutally assaulted while at a Jewish camp, by the son of a prominent Orthodox rabbi. Rabbi Diamond told the story of how he and his wife, unsure of how to handle their only son’s attacked eventually engaged 3 different psychologists for help.

The very strict Orthodox community told them it was a sin for them to tell this story. Cover-up was the appropriate idea. After many attempts to achieve a pronouncement against the perpetrator, he felt impelled to bring the matter to a civil court. This was indeed not accepted in the tight-knit Orthodox community. In fact, the offender continued to teach 4th Grade boys.

Shortly after the event the Rabbi’s son lost one Grandmother and another was also very ill. In Yeshiva class when the child asked why God was giving him so many difficulties in his life, he was told that God was punishing him for having blamed his camp counselor.

Over 30 rabbis had come to Rabbi Diamond to threaten him, bribe him etc. because he was planning to go to civil court against such a prominent person in their community. The case was tried in upstate NY near the camp and in an Orthodox community. The two boys who had been witnesses reneged on testifying. The pressure of the rabbis, of the 6 attorneys hired by the accused and of the local community caused this man to be set free.

Rabbi Diamond’s message to us is that sex abuse is not just a Catholic or Jewish or Muslim or Hindu problem — it is a human problem — and it is not just a crime, it is a sin — as is the cover up.

[Rabbi Diamond received a standing ovation.]


COMMITTEE REPORTS

LIAISON TEAM: Anne Kerrigan spoke for the VOTF team. They are waiting to hear from Bp. Murphy’s people as to when the next meeting will occur. Anne answered questions from the audience.

FINANCE COMMITTEE: Kevin Connors reiterated some issues raised at the last meeting when Mr. Grafer explained that the diocese of RVC has $180 million dollars in excess reserve funds. VOTF feels it is necessary that the diocese have a representative diocesan Finance Council that is accountable to parishioners and transparent in its dealings. VOTF also supports restricted contributions to the parish and the use of the $$MAKE A DIFFERENCE cards. Kevin ended with a plea for donations to enable us to continue our work, and answered questions.

VICTIM SUPPPORT COMMITTEE: John Ryan spoke on the issue and allowed for questions.

VIGILS COMMITTEE: Penny Duggan spoke on the Lost Sheep Program and its value in working with SNAP. The next vigil will be at St. Dominic’s in Oyster Bay on February 27th.

UPCOMING CONFERENCE: Phil Megna spoke on the March 19th Faith Convention II and encouraged everyone’s coming and bringing friends. The total cost of the Conference will be between $25 and $35 thousand. The entrance fee will not cover this. He plugged the two main speakers — Fr. Tom Doyle and John Allen, whose new book is “The Next Pope and the Future of the Church.”


CLOSING REMARKS: Responding to a member’s question about any progress we might have made, Dan Bartley said:

Tonight I heard several members mention lack of progress.
We are making tremendous progress. The trap we can fall into is measuring our progress by the actions of Bishop Murphy.

I don’t think we should wait for the day when Bishop Murphy says, “I love LI VOTF” or embraces what we stand for. It's not going to happen.

So where have we made progress:

Media
We are the alternative Catholic voice in the media —
Whenever anything newsworthy happens involving the Catholic Church on Long Island we get a call. That alternative voice, the voice of the laity never existed before.

Other Catholic Institutions
Whenever a local Catholic organization wants to publicize an event involving the renewal of our church or an educational presentation, they contact us. They know that our membership represents faithful, loyal Catholics that are looking to make a difference.

Conference
We are about to host our second major conference. We are thrilled to have as our guest speaker John Allen, one of the leading journalists in the country that covers the Vatican. Again, prior to LI VOTF, such a conference, where Catholics could gather to openly and honestly discuss issues that are relevant to the health of our Church, never existed before.

Newsletter
Our Newsletter is quality publication that we can all be proud of.
In our newsletter, Catholics can read the truth about real issues that face our church on Long Island.

We have Influence throughout the Catholic Community. Our financial initiatives are having an impact.

We give a voice to other organizations such a SNAP or CFO — Voices that would have otherwise been stifled.

Are we making progress? I think we have made amazing progress and should be proud of our accomplishments.


CLOSING BLESSING: Rabbi Diamond blessed us all to continue the work of VOTF.

CLOSING PRAYER: Led by Gene Zirkel

Lord, as we leave here to continue our Lenten journey, help us to be still and silent in mind, body and spirit so that we might be encouraged by the words we have heard spoken here tonight and to be comforted by the ever present words you speak to our hearts, “I have loved you with an everlasting love. I have called you and you are mine.” Let us go in peace….Amen!