Vermont’s Catholic Church Reaching out for Public Comment
By Kevin O’Connor
Vermont Catholic Bishop Christopher Coyne, facing a rise in priest misconduct headlines and a fall in parishioner attendance, is set to hold a series of open meetings this month seeking public comment about the state’s largest religious denomination. “Anybody’s welcome, not just Catholics,” Coyne said in announcing what he calls “part of a continuing effort to promote full transparency about Catholic matters in the state.” Vermont’s Roman Catholic Diocese, the target of more than 40 clergy misconduct lawsuits in the past quarter-century, has a decades-long history of defying court orders and outside review. That’s why Coyne, leader of the state’s 72 Catholic parishes since 2015, has made headlines by agreeing to work with law enforcement, releasing past child abuse victims from nondisclosure agreements and forming a lay committee to review clergy misconduct files and publicly release the names of abusers. “I have no idea how the meetings are going to go, but I felt it was important to establish better two-way communication with people in the pews,” he said. The bishop is basing the sessions on traditional Vermont town meetings. “These meetings are ‘democracy in action’ because any citizen of the town may speak to the matters within the meeting or even propose matters for discussion,” he said in a separate statement to the state’s 118,000 Catholics. “The idea is that everyone present gets to hear what others have to say in order to come to some consensus about what the community as a whole should do.” The six meetings, each to run from 6 to 7:30 p.m., will take place Jan. 10 at St. Mary’s in St. Albans, Jan. 22 at Holy Family in Essex Junction, Jan. 23 at St. Theresa’s in Orleans, Jan. 28 at Sacred Heart in Bennington, Jan. 29 at Christ the King in Rutland and Jan. 31 at St. John Vianney in South Burlington. The sessions will open with the bishop offering a prayer and introductory remarks before inviting attendees to speak. “The operative frame for our discussion at the town meeting should be Christian charity and respectful listening,” Coyne said. “My hope is that those who come to the town meeting will speak in such a manner and that those who choose not to speak will listen with an open mind, as I will try to do so.” The bishop’s actions come as a local and state task force of police and prosecutors has launched an investigation into the history of church-wide misconduct. For its part, the diocese has charged a lay committee of four men and three women with reviewing all past and present personnel files that contain credible allegations of child sexual abuse so it can publicize the names of offenders later this year. “This is a significant endeavor, as they are reading every file from cover to cover, not just a summary or excerpt,” Coyne said. “I’m hoping we’ll have a report soon, but I want to give them all the time they want.” In related news, the national lay organization Voice of the Faithful has named the diocese one of only two in the country to receive a perfect score in its new study of financial transparency. “I think it so important to be as open and forthcoming about all matters as much as possible,” Coyne said in response. “I am ready to listen and respond to concerns and questions from the Catholic community.”
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