Voice of the Faithful
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Voice of the Faithful is an organization formed in response to the sexual abuse scandals within the Roman Catholic Church, by Boston-based Roman Catholics who felt that those guilty of abusing children, or failing to protect children, should be brought to account. Today there are branches in other parts of the United States and worldwide—for example, Long Island, Northern California and New Hampshire. Many members are abuse survivors or relatives of abused children.
Voice of the Faithful started when a few parishioners met in the basement of a church. There are now 30,000 members campaigning for lay members to have a greater say in Roman Catholic Church policies. There are over 200 Parish Voice affiliates in the United States. Voice of the Faithful's members come from all 50 states and several countries.
Voice of the Faithful have campaigned against Edward Cardinal Egan for allegedly covering up child abuse. Similarly Voice of the Faithful asked for the resignation of Bernard Cardinal Law in December, 2002.
Voice of the Faithful has three main goals - to support survivors of clergy sexual abuse; to support priests of integrity; and to promote structural change in the governance and administration of the Catholic Church. It seeks to achieve these goals through the teachings of the Catholic Church. The organization also supports the idea of Bishops being held accountable for the era of clergy sexual abuse in this country, and would like to see the Catholic Church in the U.S. create permanent tools to ensure transparency and accountability.
External links
- Official site (http://www.votf.org/)
- Give laity a key role in fixing church (http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/03/06/give_laity_a_key_role_in_fixing_church/)
- The rise of Voice of the Faithful (http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/extras/voice_archive.htm)
- Cardinal Law and the Laity (http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/law_laity/)
- Catholic group Voice of the Faithful begins work in BR, New Orleans (http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/111503/rel_rel001.shtml)