A Little History about “VOTF-News”

By Goz Gosselin
Provided to BishopAccountability.org
July 14, 2005

The first time I heard of the lay organization called Voice of the Faithful was during a talk given by Fr. Richard P. McBrien. That day, I couldn’t wait to get home to my PC to logon VOTF’s website which Fr. McBrien shared with his audience.

I soon found that I was attending several local VOTF meetings per week where I would meet fellow Catholics with similar concerns about our Church. It became known to these new friends that I was proficient at locating and transmitting news articles about the crisis via e-mails and so “VOTF-News” had its beginning.

The recipients then numbered only a handful, with many more coming on board every day. From the onset, Kathy Shaw of the Poynter Institute and now the National Catholic Reporter provided me with the majority of my daily articles. Kathy would provide the URL. I would then download the articles, and format them into a document, then transfer it to the body of an e-mail for my subscribers. For almost two years, I would set aside several hours each day to get these important articles out to my readers. It was a labor of love, and my way of contributing to VOTF.

Retirement of Goz Gosselin

By Mary Ann Keyes
In the Vinyard
Affiliate News
May 2004

VOTF's first e-news anchor Goz Gosselin is retiring from his post. Parish Voice Chair Mary Ann Keyes speaks our thanks for his indispensable service:

Goz Gosselin, better known by his e-mail name terriandgoz, is stepping down as our daily reporter of the national and international news on the Church crisis. What started out two years ago as a few people receiving news clips from Goz grew to be a list that probably reaches over 1000 people. Each time we had a new Regional Coordinator come on board, Goz would add the name and that regional coordinator would then pass the daily e-mail on to all the affiliates in his region. Each affiliate leader would forward it to all of his/her members. One member passed it on to over 150 people each day. The benefit of this service was the realization that the history recorded in the National Review Board report was not history and the crisis in the Church continues.

Goz was also the leader of an affiliate and one-time Regional Coordinator of the state of Florida; we are deeply grateful to Goz for his commitment to Voice of the Faithful, a movement kept alive through the dedication of volunteers. Goz is the personification of all that is good about this movement, its volunteers and the gifts we bring to each other.