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This is the chirpy little slogan that the lay Catholic group "Voice of the Faithful" have chosen as their motto. What is an honest, believing Roman Catholic to think of this? We have all been dismayed by the horrors of the priestly molestation scandal — priests abusing members of their flocks in sinful homosexual affairs while their bishops obfuscate and move them from parish to parish. This sort of corruption must be rooted out, and every abuse must be punished. But, there is always a universe of difference between an abuse and the thing abused. One must be very...

<p>The president of Voice of the Faithful, seeking to counter conservative criticism of the growing lay Catholic organization, yesterday sent an e-mail to 22,000 members defending the group's faithfulness to Catholic teachings and apologizing for inviting one controversial speaker to the group's convention.</p>

What Is VOTF's Real Agenda? Fred Martinez Monday, Aug. 12, 2002 Recently, Voice of the Faithful (VOTF) became the news media's favorite "Catholic" lay organization to cure the Catholic Church of its sex-abuse scandal. The New York Times and Boston Globe wrote glowing articles about this new "mainstream" Catholic organization. Even in Ireland and on the European landmass, newspapers were covering this "grassroots" group that started from a humble church basement. VOTF claims it wants to democratize and subordinate the bishops to "lay participation." It also claims to be mainstream and conservative. I received this e-mail from one of my...

A Long Island lay group demanding a greater role in the Catholic church in the wake of priest sex abuse scandals has been prohibited from using a Wyandanch parish hall for a planned meeting next month. Bishop William Murphy of the Diocese of Rockville Centre has issued an edict barring the Long Island Regional Assembly of the Voice of the Faithful from holding their September meeting at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. The ban was relayed by Auxiliary Bishop John Dunne in a Tuesday telephone call to the Rev. William Brisotti, pastor of the church. Dunne said such a...

<p>In response to recent scandals, a lay Catholic watchdog group has formed, calling itself Voice of the Faithful. It held its first "convention" and, a few days ago, tried to take on the Boston archdiocese.</p> <p>The 19,000-member organization says that its main goal is openness in the way that the Catholic bishops' bureaucracies--in Boston and elsewhere--handle clerical pederasty. But there are signs that Voice of the Faithful wants to transform itself into a large, well-financed interest group, agitating for a restructuring of the Catholic Church in the U.S.--including elected bishops and an end to bans against married and female priests.</p>

Susan Troy was about to let go of her relationship with the Catholic Church. “I was holding on by my fingertips,” the 53-year-old Boston resident says. Like many Catholics, she is horrified by the sex-abuse scandals, which she considers “a hideous betrayal.” But instead of leaving the church, she made a decision “to stay and fight for what I love.” She now attends meetings of Voice of the Faithful, a grassroots lay group that helps angry Catholics come to terms with the crimes of priests and the deceptions of church leadership. As America’s 63 million Catholics struggle to move on...

<p>NEXT SATURDAY may well mark the beginning of a new era in the Catholic Church. Thousands of Catholic lay people will gather at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston to respond to the catastrophe caused by priests abusing children and by bishops protecting abusers instead of victims.</p>