Positions
Voice of the Faithful works to support victims of clergy sexual abuse and advocates for bishops' fuller accountability for their handling of complaints of abuse by clergy. The group is partially credited with forcing the resignation of Boston's Archbishop, Cardinal Bernard Francis Law, in December 2002.
Members of the organization have worked to extend statutes of limitations for allegations of abuse against minors. One of its more visible accomplishments was its involvement in the effort to extend the statute of limitations in Massachusetts. The group leading this effort, called the Coalition to Reform Sex Abuse Laws, included many VOTF members. In April 2011 it mailed a letter to the priests working in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to elicit their support for the abolition of the statute of limitations in Pennsylvania.
VOTF advocates for structural change in the Church—in general, for lay members to have a greater administrative voice, especially regarding financial oversight, in their parishes and dioceses.
VOTF has recently taken a controversial stand in calling for the Vatican to review the requirement that priests be celibate. Jim Post, a former president of VOTF, stated, "We’ve repeatedly rejected that argument, saying that those are not our issues. Even I, from time to time, wonder whether we shouldn’t just declare victory and say a lot’s been done in five years."
Connecticut attorney Thomas Gallagher, a noted contributor to VOTF, was instrumental in writing proposed legislation, similar to the 1905 law in France, which would remove bishops' control of the dioceses and place them into the hands of laymen.
Leaders from VOTF have helped create the American Catholic Council, a group of dissident Catholics who want to reform the Church.
Read more about this topic: Voice Of The Faithful
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—Claud Cockburn (1904–1981)
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