Church in
Crisis
Voice of the Faithful is heard on Long Island
By DICK RYAN
Long Island, N.Y.
Voice of the Faithful got off to a modest start on Long Island,
N.Y., on Aug. 1 when 100 Catholics gathered for the first time in a meeting
room at St. Sylvester Church in Medford. But plans for a second meeting at Our
Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church in Wyandanch came to an abrupt halt when
Bishop William Murphy of the Rockville Centre diocese issued what the diocese
termed an “edict” banning Voice of the Faithful from ever meeting in
any Catholic church facility on Long Island.
“The bishop believes that VOTF is a divisive group with other
agendas in mind involving ordination and human sexuality,” diocesan
spokesperson Joanne Navarro said later. “He agrees that people should meet
with the priests and pastor of their own parish.”
Murphy later noted that parish councils are the appropriate
channel of communication and that full dialogue with the laity will occur
during a diocesan synod that is being planned for 2007.
The pastor of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Fr. William
Brisotti, disagreed. “There is no reason to discourage dialogue among the
people who want to respond to current circumstances in the church,” he
said. Brisotti also noted that Murphy’s action “adds more reason for
the movement they are talking about in the first place.”
Brisotti first learned about the ban when he received a phone call
from Auxiliary Bishop John Dunne outlining Murphy’s edict. A few days
later, after Brisotti had voiced his disagreement in the press, calling the ban
“short-sighted,” he was summoned to the bishop’s residence for a
private dinner with Murphy. Contacted the following day, Brisotti would not
comment on the details of their conversation.
Dunne also placed a similar call to Fr. Edward Kealey, a co-pastor
at St. Sylvester’s, after the initial meeting had been held and after
Murphy heard about it. “I received a message that Bishop Dunne had
called,” explained Kealey, “so I returned the call but couldn’t
reach him. He never called back.”
“I think that Voice of the Faithful is a very good idea, with
some very responsible people trying to help the church at a time when it is
hurting,” Kealey told NCR. “I have spoken to Bishop Murphy
about it. … There should be more organizations [like it], the more the
better. The bishops should be paying more attention to the people.”
Although Murphy has not spoken publicly about Voice of the
Faithful, he has expressed his opinion in several letters and e-mails to people
who had written to him complaining about the “edict.” One of his
letters was addressed to Fr. Andrew Connelly, a Long Island priest. “As
the bishop of their local church,” Murphy wrote, “I have a
responsibility that was given to me by God through the Holy Father to protect
the church in the care of its unity. It is my considered judgment that a group
from outside the diocese, such as Voice of the Faithful, is not necessary, nor
is it helpful. In conscience, therefore, I could not approve this group for the
use of church property.”
In a separate response to Catherine Kelly, a Catholic nurse,
Murphy wrote, “They [Voice of the Faithful] are calling for dialogue to
discuss the guidance and governance of the church but none of them has ever
spoken to me. They call for change but of what? I do not and cannot prevent
people from meeting but I have a responsibility to see to it that church
property not be misused.”
Some weeks later, on Sept. 12, Murphy couldn’t prevent
hundreds of people from meeting when the Voice of the Faithful on Long Island
went to Plan B and met at a non-Catholic, nonsectarian facility, the Wyandanch
Youth Center. More than 600 people -- some young, many middle-aged, but mostly
older men and women -- packed the large gymnasium where there was standing room
only. Organizers told NCR that Murphy was invited but didn’t
attend, although several priests, sisters and deacons were present. After an
opening hymn and prayer, those attending were invited to express their thoughts
and opinions for no longer than two minutes each. The meeting’s
facilitator, Sheila Pfeiffer, set the tone when she briefly outlined the who,
what and why of Voice of the Faithful.
“We are centrist and not extremist,” she said from a
front table, standing under a basketball net. “We’re about building
up and not tearing down. We’re about working for the full participation of
the laity in the church. We are not talking about challenging doctrine or
dogma, but rather bringing the vision of Vatican II and its decrees to the life
of the laity.”
Among the three representatives from the founding chapter of Voice
of the Faithful in Boston, Steve Krueger said that the organization, simply
defined, is “hope in action, hope to build a better church through a
grass-roots movement that has been galvanized by the cover-up on the part of
the bishops.”
Another guest from Boston said the keys to Voice of the Faithful
are dialogue, education and prayer. The third Bostonian told those gathered,
“You have the authority to be an active participant in the governance and
guidance of the church. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
Several speakers addressed the rumors surrounding the group. The
word was out that Voice of the Faithful’s unspoken agenda focuses on a
female priesthood, married priests and homosexuality in the priesthood. In both
her talk and the printed brochures given to participants, Pfeiffer defused and
dismissed the rumors.
One of the handouts distributed during the meeting outlined the
core principles of Voice of the Faithful: “We are a prayerful voice. We
are led by the Spirit. We a collective voice. We are an inclusive voice. We
seek the voice of the Catholic center. We are respectful of every voice. We are
concerned for those who have no voice. We work for change within the church. We
are a ‘grass-roots’ organization. We are independent of the existing
church structures. We seek to cooperate with existing church structures
whenever possible.”
Pfeiffer, a director of religious education for a Long Island
parish, focused on defining the mission and goals of Voice of the Faithful.
Basic elements of the group, listed on the handouts and printed on a large
poster at the front of the room, include:
- Mission -- provide a prayerful voice, attentive to the Spirit,
through which the faithful can actively participate in the governance and
guidance of the Catholic church.
- Goals -- support those who have been abused, support priests of
integrity, shape structural change within the church.
- Motto -- Keep the Faith, Change the Church.
Throughout the meeting, polite applause marked the end of each
person’s comments. But there were two occasions when the participants in
the packed gym rose to their feet and applauded long and loud. The first
occurred at the end of a talk by a young married man named Bob who said he had
been a priest for eight years and had been sexually abused as a young man by a
priest. His abuser has since died, he said. Bob talked candidly about his own
dysfunctional family as a child, his drinking problem in later years, his years
in therapy and his commitment to everything Voice of the Faithful
represents.
The other standing ovation followed Pfeiffer’s suggestion
that everyone take a moment to express support for all the “priests of
integrity” who continue to work under some of the most painful
circumstances in the history of the church.
No priests or religious spoke during the open-mike forum; several
people who work for the diocese told committee member Anne Kerrigan that they
didn’t attend out of fear of being fired.
Organizers said the next meeting is planned for Oct. 10, at a site
yet to be determined, and future meetings are planned for the second Thursday
of every month. Participants know that, at least as of this writing, none of
the meetings will be held in a Catholic church. That didn’t appear to
bother the participants. During the meeting they repeatedly said, “The
people are the church.”
Dick Ryan is a freelance writer living in New York.
Related Web site
Voice of the
Faithful
www.votf.org
Phone: (617) 558-5252
National Catholic Reporter, September 27,
2002
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