The meeting was opened and Board of Directors Co-Chair, Pat Zirkel, welcomed the members.

Opening Prayer    Denis McKeown

All:    In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening Song:    Christ, Be Our Light

Refrain: Christ, be our light,
Shine in our hearts,
Shine through the darkness
Christ, be our light,
Shine in your church gathered today.
Verse: Longing for light, we wait in darkness.
Longing for truth, we turn to you.
Make us your own, your holy people,
Light for the world to see.

LITANY TO THE HOLY SPIRIT
Right: Come, Spirit of Wisdom, and teach us to value the highest gift.
All: Veni Sancti Spiritu
Left: Come, Spirit of Counsel, and guide us along the straight and narrow path as we journey home to you.
All: Veni Sancti Spiritu
Right: Come, Spirit of Fortitude, and strengthen us against every evil spirit and interest that would separate us from you.
All: Veni Sancti Spiritu
Left: Come, Spirit of Knowledge, and teach us the shortness of life and the length of eternity.
All: Veni Sancti Spiritu
Right: Come, Spirit of Fear of the Lord, and make us tremble with awe and reverence before your divine majesty.
All: Veni Sancti Spiritu
Left: Come, Spirit of Godliness, and stir our minds and hearts to love and serve the Lord our God and one another all our days.
All: Veni Sancti Spiritu
All:
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful.
Enkindle in us the fire of Your love.
Send forth Your Spirit and we shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth.
All: In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

I have a sad, and then a happy announcement to make to you. Sadly, two of our Board members - Janet Godfrey, our Secretary, and Jim Godfrey - have had to resign from the Board for business and family reasons. You know, we are often asked, why aren't more young (that is, not gray-haired) people involved in VOTF? Our answer is that young families have so many responsibilities that it is difficult for them to take the leap of also being involved in trying to reform the Church. But for almost three years, the Godfreys gave the lie to that. However, Jim's extensive business travel and their seven children finally caught up with their strong desire to help build a church they could pass on to those children. In spite of many of us assuring them that their children have to come first, they are still very disappointed that they had to resign.

Happily, however, as of this week, we have a full complement of Board members again. According to our By-Laws, the Board elects new members to fill such vacancies in its ranks. This past week, with all remaining Board members participating, two persons were elected to take the vacant seats on the Board until October. These are Johanna DiGiovanni (who also serves on the Prayer Team) and Jean McQuaid (an acting Province Coordinator from the North Fork).

My second issue is brief: The Diocese has put together a working committee to plan for a Diocesan Pastoral Council. Last month, LI VOTF sent a letter to this committee, criticizing the proposed selection process for the council. We had two major criticisms:
(1) The selection process is not truly representative; more tellingly (2) The process proposed by which the council would make recommendations to the Bishop is flawed. Specifically: The make-up and voting requirements of the council give the appearance of making it mathematically impossible for Bishop Murphy to hear the authentic and broadly held views of the faithful.

To be specific: 1. The proposed council has 22 members.
2. Six members can be appointed by Bishop Murphy.
3. It takes an eighty percent (80%) vote by the council to even submit a recommendation to the Bishop.
4. Therefore, even if all of the sixteen representative members voted together on a particular matter, the six appointed members could block the recommendation. (16/22 = 73%)

The good news is that Dan has been in contact with the working committee, and they were to discuss our letter at a recent meeting.

Retreat
Third and lastly: On Saturday, June 4th, the Board spent all day with a facilitator discussing our priorities and outlook as a Board. It was a most productive day.

Among many topics of discussion:
We learned that we spend too much time on administrative tasks.
We learned that we should be spending more time on planning for the future of LI VOTF.
We talked about membership issues and discussed what more we might do for our members.

We talked about our calling - by that I mean the calling (or vocation) of this entire organization - to be a prophetic witness to what the Church in the 21st century might be.

And last but not least, we were urged to consider our personal giftedness. In the context of the day, this was addressed to the issue of burnout and fatigue. In other words, if a person is using the gifts that God gave him or her, the gifts and the use of them should be a source of energy. If you are fatigued and in danger of burnout, it means that you are focusing your energies in the wrong places.

I was sitting and praying over this, and over how to present all this to you, when I serendipitously read the gospel for this past Tuesday, June 7th - which was all about you! It's from Matthew, chapter 5, verses 13 - 16:

You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

How often do you think of yourselves as 'salt of the earth' and 'light of the world?' I've known a few of you for years, and know how good you are. But I keep meeting other people in this organization who are just remarkable in their goodness. I don't know why God has blessed all of us with such wonderful companionship, but he certainly has. Please be secure in your goodness.

Right now, I'd like to take a couple of minutes for a process we haven't tried in a while. If I were Monty Python I'd say: "And now for something completely different..."

Take a minute, to think about the gifts that God has given to you. The gifts of family....insight into the church's problems....education....compassion....

Please take two or three minutes to talk to your immediate neighbor about your gifts. The question I'd like to propose is: What gifts have you discovered since you joined Voice of the Faithful? Or, what has your involvement in VOTF brought out of you in a new way? What have you discovered about yourself through VOTF?

After your brief discussions, I'm going to open the microphone for a few minutes.

Sr. Karol Jackowski, Ph.D.
Biography
Karol Jackowski's life as a nun began in 1964 when she joined the Sisters of the Holy Cross in South Bend, Indiana. She graduated from Saint Mary's College in South Bend in 1969 with a B.A. in sociology, and then from the University of Notre Dame in 1974 with a M.A. in theology.

Karol spent half of her life as a nun at Saint Mary's College, first as a student and then as an administrator in various capacities. In 1990, she moved to New York City to finish her Ph.D. at New York University. During this time, she also was the chief operating officer of an East Village novelty store called Alphabets.

In 1995, Karol left the Sisters of the Holy Cross and became part of the Sisters for Christian Community, an independent, self-governing sisterhood. Karol is now a full-time writer and is also the author of Sister Karol's Book of Spells and Blessings and Ten Fun Things To Do Before You Die. She lives in New York City.

The present scandal has not yet transformed the hierarchy or even the religious orders of women. But it has transformed the laity in owning their priesthood . . . as evidenced by the members who just came forward to express the gifts of the spirit they are feeling now. Religion is being taken back into our hands and homes . . . the sense that the Spirit is alive here in VOTF and that this is the church of the future.

Explains how her latest book came about. When the scandal broke she felt distanced because she did not know anyone who had been abused and didn't know of any abusing priests. Questions: -- How did this happen? Is this the end of the church?

Genesis of the book: first an article for Rosie Magazine; then editor suggested the book. This occasioned research on the priesthood through the history of the church -- early church, middle ages, through modern times.

Trends:
· Culture of exclusiveness -- excludes everyone else
· Culture of privilege -- their sin didn't impinge on their 'sacred' status as purveyors of sacraments.
· Culture of sexual misconduct. Even 15 yrs ago Richard Sipe's book described the percentages of sexually active and sexually permissive priests.

Her conclusion is that the priesthood - as we've known it - is fading. Therefore, the church of 'Catholics out of the pew' vastly outnumber those 'in the pew' . . .

Then she focused study on the religious orders of women. She discovered that a large percentage of sisters have been sexually abused. The sisters don't talk of it. Even when it is 'on the table' there is silence about it. Even among women who live together, they don't divulge it or talk about it.

She advocates the removal of statute of limitations for all sex crimes.
Refers to attorney, Marcy Hamilton: God vs. The Gavel

Re women religious of the Middle Ages -- a time when women were forced into the convent; open sexual permissiveness when large monasteries of men and women existed side by side.

The double standard of how priests and sisters were treated after sexually acting out. Men welcomed back; sisters shunned by their own orders

What is Pentecost? It was a moment that transformed. If we look at the present situation, the priesthood and the sisterhood are not being transformed. But transformation is happening among the laity.

Consider the documents that were shredded once investigations began. If what has come to light is so damning; imagine what must have been destroyed.

Her community-- originated in the 1970s -- 1972 'when massive amounts of sisters were leaving' a group of women who wanted to live the sisterhood differently joined together outside the hierarchical structure. In spite of the conflicts she 'still wanted to do church work.' But not in the current structures.

They are now routinely called upon, mostly by Catholics who are not active in the church, but who are people vitally committed to their Catholic heritage. This is the priesthood that has already developed outside the church. Home churches. The model of church straight out of the early testaments . . . the new 'upper room' called to discover a new priesthood.

This new priesthood of laity -- no exclusiveness; no sense of privilege. Probably no outrageous sexual permissiveness.

Tells of a parish in Indiana -- preparation for confirmation --reads the words of a twelve-yr-old girl -- sees hope for the future of the church.

Comment from Board Member, Phil Megna: Voices concerns that speaker encourages a different tradition and institution rather than reform of the church community we are already committed to. Reminds listeners that those who speak to Long Island Voice of the Faithful do not necessarily represent our stated mission, goals or principles. However, we wish always to be inclusive in our conversations, and to model the Church that we would wish to have.

Pat Zirkel: Thanks speaker. Affirms the positive aspects of listening to issues; of being open to hearing the views of others; of broadening our perspective. We need not agree with everything that is said.

Nominating Committee    Nancy Massaro

Two brief points:
1. Encourages members to join the Nominating Committee.
2. Also encourages members to consider a run for the Board.

Vigils committee     Leo Cuomo

1. Change in date for next vigil - July 10th instead of July 3rd.
2. Canceling the next scheduled "lost sheep' vigil; Leo speaking with the pastor of the parish involved.
3. "Vigiler of the Year' award to Bert Malesky -- who has come to every vigil from Greenport.
4. Leo thanks - Penny Duggan, Barbara Ashley, Ernie Harrington, Marie and Dominic Natoli, . . and most especially Lisa Braglia for putting together all the printed materials for vigils.

Closing announcements:     Pat Zirkel
· There is a flyer about the Indianapolis Convention. If you can attend, please contact Tom Myles tommyles@optonline.net, who volunteered to serve as a clearinghouse for information for those attending.
· Please take home an envelope and mail your donation to LI VOTF. Thanks very much for all you already do.

Closing Prayer     Charles Kerner

All: In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen