VTOF 10th Year Conference takes place Sept. 14-15 in Boston

Religion

August 31, 2012

VTOF 10th Year Conference takes place Sept. 14-15 in Boston

Special to the Item The Picayune Item Picayune Item Fri Aug 31, 2012, 08:30 AM CDT

NEWTON, Mass. — The worldwide Catholic Church reform movement Voice of the Faithful, which started in 2002 in outrage and dismay that the Church’s power structure had kept clergy sexual abuse of children secret, is marking its tenth year with a conference in Boston this September. The event is expected to draw supporters from across the United States and Europe.

“At the close of our first decade, we’re assessing where we’ve been and considering what we have left to do to bring healing and renewal to clergy abuse survivors, to conscientious priests trapped in such turmoil for so long a time and to our whole Church,” said Mark Mullaney, VOTF president.

Under the rubric of “celebrating its mission, rejuvenating its commitment and accelerating its work,” VOTF is bringing together speakers whose work has given them in-depth knowledge and keen awareness not only of the Church’s clergy sexual abuse scandal and the devastation wreaked upon victims and their families, but also of the clericalism in the Church’s hierarchy, theological and doctrinal underpinnings of Church teaching and the effects the reform movement has had on Catholics and the Church.

These speakers will include:

John Morgan, Chair of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland;

Honorable Anne Burke, Illinois Supreme Court Justice, children’s advocate and former United States Conference of Catholic Bishops National Review Board chair;

Rev. Donald Cozzens, author, international commentator and lecturer on religious and cultural issues, especially on the Church’s sexual and financial crises, and writer in residence at John Carroll University, Cleveland, Ohio;

Prof. Thomas Groome, theologian, author and Department of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry chairman, Boston College, Boston, Mass.

Rev. James Connell, canon lawyer, pastor in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and advocate for clergy sexual abuse survivors;

Jamie Manson, award-winning columnist for National Catholic Reporter, lay minister to the poor and frequent speaker and retreat leader; and

David Clohessy, executive director, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, the nation’s largest and oldest self-help group for clergy sexual abuse survivors.

The Voice of the Faithful® 10th Year Conference takes place Friday and Saturday, Sept. 14 and 15, at the Marriott Copley Place Hotel, Boston, Mass. Conference information is available at www.votf.org.

Voice of the Faithful®: Voice of the Faithful® is a worldwide movement of concerned mainstream Roman Catholics working to support survivors of clergy sexual abuse, support priests of integrity and increase the laity’s role in governance and guidance of the Church. More information is at www.votf.org.

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