VOTF and Archdiocese of Boston

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Greg_McPherran

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Dear Faithful Catholics,

One of the leaders of the Archdiocesan Institute for Ministry in the Archdiocese of Boston is active in VOTF. This institute trains laity in parish ministry. They also train people for “Pastoral Council” roles which are described to “assist the pastor in his leadership role…”

So we can see plainly that VOTF has indeed infiltrated and is setting up its structures in parishes. I see this as establishing a power base. From there perhaps they can promote further agenda against Catholic teachings on contraception, homosexuality, women priests, etc.

All this is with the support of the Archdiocese!!!
rcab.org/AIM/HomePage.html

Also, the Deacon at the Church here in Sharon is also a member of VOTF. We have a new pastor and at one of the masses the new pastor in union with the parish council will “together” reaffirm their pledge to the parish “vision”. Apparently, they are attempting to get the new and relatively young pastor under control right from the start.

Archbishop O’Malley, please put a stop to this. I seek the Church of Jesus Christ and the teachings of the apostles as given by the Holy Father.

VOTF is truly moving forward, they are setting up their power structures. Their organization is the central power power base and they are infiltrating into parish councils to set up internal power bases in parishes. I think they plan to continue setting up these bases and when they have enough power they plan to control the priests and the bishops.

They already have some control and the spirit of rebellion is seen in the Church closings.

I respectfully point this out to bishops so thay they can take notice and take action.

My friends, we need to be vigilant to what is going on in our Church.

Greg
 
Will the dissent ever end? I sure wouldn’t want to be a priest in Boston these days, much less one of the younger and more orthodox variety.

Though I am not from Massachusettes, I fear O’Malley has bitten off more than he can chew with this reconfiguration process, since most of the wounds from the abuse scandal have yet to heal. I think he probably should of waited another year or two before talking about closing any parishes. But now new wounds are opening, and mistrust of Archbishop O’Malley is now rapidly approaching the peak level of animosity directed towards Cardinal Law, and VOTF is gaining huge mileage out of it all unfortunately. And with all the new credibility challenges O’Malley is facing, I don’t know if he has enough moral authority left to act against VOTF without cultivating more dissent.

Archbishop O’Malley has very few good choices in an overall bad situation, we must pray him and especially his wounded flock.:gopray2:
 
Moloch has many tentacles. Needs to feed. He finds the Boston archdiocese especially tastey.
 
Apparently, they are attempting to get the new and relatively young pastor under control right from the start.
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Is there a text of the “vision” he is expected to sign?

Hehe. Don’t despair just yet, because we are seeing more and more orthodox young pastors. These interlopers may get their a**es handed to them. Pray!

Scott
 
Hi Jermosh,
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Jermosh:
Sorry but what is VOTF?
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They seek to change the structure of the Church. I am also concerned about their stances on Catholic moral teachings. They seem to be a dissenting group.

votf.org/

One of their tactics seems to be to use legitimate concern about the abuse crisis as a means to promote additional agendas.

Some of their literature that refers to the Spirit seems dangerously presumptive and perhaps blasphemous or almost blasphemous. Others? Am I speaking too strongly?

Greg
 
Greg,

I briefly gazed their page. I see them nothin more then a modern age “pheasents with pitchforks”. They are angry and have a right to be so. I think change is good, but it can go over board of course. But what specifically is wrong with them? I did not see anything really dramatic on the FAQs or Positions.

Peace 🙂

Jermosh
 
Pheasants with pitchforks? Oh dear… I’ll be on the lookout, though. There are a lot of herons in this neck of the woods:)
 
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Cherubino:
Pheasants with pitchforks? Oh dear… I’ll be on the lookout, though. There are a lot of herons in this neck of the woods:)
Click to expand...
LoL
 
From the start votf was an organ of dissent. Same people, new title. The fox is in the hen house. They will never be satisfied no matter what the Archbishop does unless it is contrary to the Church. I suggest you start a CUF chapter at your parish and co-opt the pastor. It would drive the votf folks nuts.
 
Hi Jermosh,
40.png
Jermosh:
I did not see anything really dramatic on the FAQs or Positions.
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You have no problem with the laity wanting to change the structure of the Church? (Dig a little deeper.)

VOTF Mission Statement:
…the Faithful can actively*** participate*** in the governance and guidance of the Catholic Church.

There is no mention in this mission statement of participation as service to and under the authority of the successors of the aposltes.

I think the rebellion is evident. I also think many of the VOTF people seek to change the Church in ways that are not in agreement with the magisterium.

Greg
 
We are the Church. Why should we not participate in the goverance? They are not saying we should get rid of the Bishops or Priests, and that we are to still fall under the teachings of the authority.

They want to make sure that the current scandal never happens again. Maybe some forget who caused this scandle, it was not me, or you, or the person next to us in the pew. It was the authority, they have absolutly no excuse for it as well, none, nadda, nothin. They pruposly moved pedophiles around in their own backyards and when it got really bad they just shoved them off to another diocese to rape more children.

Peace 🙂
Jermosh
 
VOTF is a very troubling group. They want to change the structure of the church to the point that the Catholic church will resemble every other Protestant demonination in which the people govern and elect the Bishops - this is largely in opposition to the tenet of apostolic succession and the teaching authority of the Magisterium. Greg is right about them presenting some legitimate concerns that are cleverly intermingled with clearly dissident purposes (at their annual conference a couple years ago they had several speakers who clearly had agendas that were in direct opposition to established church teachings in a number of areas). Here in Massachusetts, the VOTF has been at the forefront of several scandalous church sit-ins. Please pray for Archbishop O’Malley here in Boston - he’s doing the best that he can in a place where dissent seems to be the norm. Thanks for bringing this topic to the forum, Greg.
 
Riley,

If what you say is true, then they do sound dangerous. But the issue is I have not seen anything to state that. I have really only seen some parishioners who what some changes so we do not have the same thing happen again. I mean seriously this scandal has really hurt the Body in many ways, and O’Malley is the person to fix it and he has a really hard job right now. But if it were not for certain bishops/cardinals most diocese would not be on the brink of bankruptcy, and O’Malley could be chilling in FL where there is a greater need of strong leaders compared to up here fixing a mess.

In the end the hierarchy is not affected by this, but the body is the one getting the full brunt of the scandal. Priests and bishops will not go hungry or cold, but the poor will both spiritually and physically because of the money needed to be converted to lawsuits.

Peace 🙂
Jermosh
 
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Greg_McPherran:
Dear Faithful Catholics,

One of the leaders of the Archdiocesan Institute for Ministry in the Archdiocese of Boston is active in VOTF. This institute trains laity in parish ministry. They also train people for “Pastoral Council” roles which are described to “assist the pastor in his leadership role…”

So we can see plainly that VOTF has indeed infiltrated and is setting up its structures in parishes. I see this as establishing a power base. From there perhaps they can promote further agenda against Catholic teachings on contraception, homosexuality, women priests, etc.

All this is with the support of the Archdiocese!!!
rcab.org/AIM/HomePage.html

.

VOTF is truly moving forward, they are setting up their power structures. Their organization is the central power power base and they are infiltrating into parish councils to set up internal power bases in parishes. I think they plan to continue setting up these bases and when they have enough power they plan to control the priests and the bishops.

They already have some control and the spirit of rebellion is seen in the Church closings.

Greg
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I see the pages that you identify, and I don’t understand how you come to the conclusions you have reached from this information. Please explain.
 
Dear Jermosh and Beads,

votf.org/Who_We_Are/rights.html
The hierarchy that failed to protect our children cannot be trusted to continue exercising unchecked control over the persons, property, money, and fate of our Church. VOTF believes that baptized Catholics must, as a matter of conscience, assert our right and responsibility to participate in the decision-making processes of the whole Catholic Church.

votf.org/Who_We_Are/future.html
To move forward we must build an effective ***Voice of the Faithful chapter in every parish in every diocese of this nation and the world. :bigyikes: ***We have to understand the administrative structures of the Church in order to change them. :bigyikes:

votf.org/Structural_Change/structural.html
Work vigorously for immediate, meaningful lay consultation in the process of pastoral selection. :bigyikes:

votf.org/Who_We_Are/theologian.html
"While preserving intact the necessary link with ecclesiastical authority, the laity have the right to establish and direct [apostolic]
associations…
(Did they preserve this “link” when they formed?)

votf.org/Who_We_Are/faq.html#six
These include, but are not limited to: human sexuality, women’s rights, democratic processes, :bigyikes: and the contextual roles of science and history in the healthy life of the Church. Catholic laity must stand up and force change of the clerical culture of secrecy, deceit, arrogance and abuse of power that have brought us to this shameful pass. We have no interest in challenging Church dogma. we will not negotiate regarding: " Our right to exist "

Q. What positions does Voice of the Faithful take on married clergy, women priests, and homosexuality in and outside of the church?
A. Voice of the Faithful takes no position on the hot-button sex and gender issues roiling the Catholic Church.
(Ahhh, so they don’t stand with the Church teaching, instead they take no position. How can you take ***no position ***when the Church has a teaching?)

But wait…

votf.org/Educating_Ourselves/bcchurch.html
Workshop: “Sexuality in Catholic Tradition” with Francine Cardman

womenpriests.org/classic/cardman.htm
make an argument of fittingness work in the direction of ordination of women (Francine Cardman) :bigyikes:
Is that the same Fracine Cardmine giving the VOTF workshop??? (I thought they had no position on gender???)

votf.org/papers/AWomansPlace.html
***The ban on birth control promotes shame. :bigyikes: *** (I thought they said they accept the teaching authority of the Church???)
Women should be ordained. :bigyikes: (But they said they didn’t have a stance on gender???)

VOTF Council Robert Castagnola
votf.org/papers/RethinkingtheChurch.html
But we laypeople must be welcomed into the Church’s enclaves of power, not as a guest but as equals. :bigyikes:

This sums it up:
catholicculture.org/sites/site_view.cfm?recnum=1912

Greg
 
Ok I see what you were talking about, thank you for your effort to clarify. BUT…

They do make some valid claims. The laity should have a active and equal role in the Church decisions on property, money, and other secular issues. On faith and morals they should not of course. I also think that the Church is in need of reform, both structurely and in persons. Some of the older bishops really messed up allot of flock, we need “Cleaners”.

I am a convert, and the # 1 issue of my conversion and still current obstacle is my total and utter lack of trust for the hiarchy. I trust them with my soul for moral and faith, but would not let them even take a look at my wallet. They will close a perfectly good and strong parishe, while keeping delapitated and weak parishe. All because the strong parish is in a lucrative real estate spot.

It took allot of prayer for me to accept the hiarchy for what they are.

Peace 🙂
Big Jon
 
Hello Jermosh,

I think you need to contemlpate this further. Both the laity and clergy are to work toward holiness by embracing the truth of Jesus and His teachings in His Church. The is the single most important work, not pointing fingers and changing structure. I think the structure would lead us to great joy and union with God if we all would follow Church teachings. You and many may not be experiencing this fullness of spiritual joy because of some laity and clergy that do not fully embrace Church teachings. Given the dissent of VOTF, I definitely do not trust them. So they have no right to talk about trust. This is hypocrisy.

Greg
 
VOTF can’t be trusted. Greg’s quotes and passages say it all. They are a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I urge all faithful Catholics to stay as far away from them as possible.
 
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