Voice of the Faithful
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Voice of the Faithful is an organization, formed in response to the Roman Catholic sex abuse cases, by some Boston-based Roman Catholic laity who felt that those guilty of abusing children, or failing to protect children, should be brought to account. It got its start when some parishioners met in the basement of a church. Today there are over 200 Parish Voice affiliates in the United States, and others worldwide. There are now 30,000 members, coming from all 50 states and several countries. Many members themselves are abuse survivors or relatives of abused children.
Voice of the Faithful claims 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 claims that it seeks to achieve these goals through means consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church, although have invited several dissidents from Catholic teaching to address it, including proponents of abortion, women's ordination, and same-sex unions.[1]
Voice of the Faithful supports the idea that bishops should be held accountable for clergy sexual abuse in the United States. They have campaigned against Cardinal Edward Egan for allegedly covering up child abuse, and asked for the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Francis Law in December 2002.
They advocate other structural change in the Church -- in general for lay members to have a greater say in policy -- including the popular election of bishops, the approval of priests by parishes, and the ownership of parish property by laymen[2]--purportedly to increase transparency and accountability. They also support the ordination of women as deacons.[3]
