Posted on 08/21/2002 8:26:26 PM PDT by american colleen
Grassroots groups square off on scandal
by Eric Convey
Wednesday, August 21, 2002
A Newton-based group that wants to democratize the Roman Catholic Church worldwide is now facing opposition from a local grassroots organization.
About 50 Catholics who want to preserve the historic deference of the laity toward priests and bishops have begun convening to coordinate a response to Voice of the Faithful.
``We're sort of the equal and opposite reaction,'' said Carol McKinley, a Pembroke resident and organizer of the month-old group calling itself Faithful Voice.
Both organizations are employing tactics such as using the Internet to sign up members and outline their positions. (Their addresses are votf.org for Voice of the Faithful and faithfulvoice.com for the new organization.)
Voice of the Faithful has an eight-month head start and drew national media to a convention of 4,000 people in June.
Faithful Voice is focusing on Sept. 22, the day that some sexual molestation victims' advocates have called on Catholics to boycott Mass. Faithful Voice is asking Catholics to not just attend Mass, but to do so at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston's South End to support the role of the hierarchy in general and Bernard Cardinal Law in particular.
``He doesn't represent the mistakes, he represents the moral teachings of the church,'' McKinley said.
Voice of the Faithful's interim executive director, Steve Krueger, said he was not familiar with Faithful Voice. But when told of its criticisms, he said, ``Their misguided accusations, from our perspective, are presented to impugn our intentions.''
Contrary to many of those complaints, Voice of the Faithful strives to be centrist rather than beholden to the theological left, Krueger said. ``We invite all Catholics to become familiar with the centrist philosophy that we actively support.''
While Voice of the Faithful has officially avoided positions on doctrinal questions such as whether women should be ordained, the selection of a battery of liberal speakers for the group's 4,000-member June convention continues to draw fire.
On Monday, Voice of the Faithful's president, Jim Post, conceded in an open letter that including at least one of those speakers was a mistake.
That speaker, Debra Haffner, is a non-Catholic who addressed the topic of creating a sexually safe parish. But she also, critics noted, has taken controversial public stances favoring sexual morals that contradict numerous Catholic teachings.
``We should not have invited Dr. Haffner,'' Post wrote. ``Dr. Haffner's mere presence raised understandable doubts about VOTF's commitment to Catholic teaching.''
Some Catholics who support Law, such as the Rev. Robert Carr of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, said it's not just hot-button issues such as sexuality that call into question Voice of the Faithful's legitimacy, but also the group's questioning of the church's hierarchical nature.
``If you're working for Coke,'' he said, ``you don't drink Pepsi.''
I've been praying for an orthodox alternative to "Voice of the Faithful" - I hope this is it. Their website looks good and is asking for the rosary and has this beautiful quote on the website:
“ because some have committed spiritual homicide
………………we should not commit spiritual suicide”
Francis De Sales - 1521
I think this is more than I'm prepared to do. I'll just have to stick with preserving a public silence and vent on FR.
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