BOSTON (MA)
Irish Central
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.
VOTF was started here in Boston, but is international now with some 30,000 members and a strong presence in Ireland. Many of the US members are also Irish or Irish-American.
The outrage in Boston that sparked the founding of VOTF back in 2002 has morphed into something different today (yet no less significant) as more and more Catholics embrace ideas previously seen as radical (women priests, optional celibacy). The importance of changing the church for future generations is also now a theme that rings true for many, as we have seen here in the US, as in Ireland and elsewhere, a lost generation moving away from religion. Amid these changes, Voice of the Faithful trudges onwards making steady progress towards its goals to support survivors of abuse, and work towards structural change in the church with greater input from laypeople, greater roles for women, and financial accountability within the Catholic Church.
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