Coastal Delmarva VOTF





      The Voice of the Faithful
TM
Updated 3/07/2008

PRAYER TO THE SPIRIT
O Spirit of God, and God of the Spirit,
We remember the many ways You have touched our lives,
transforming us and leading us to fulfill Your mission.
We celebrate the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit among us.
We believe that the Spirit calls us to continue the work of God in the world and through the Church.
We believe that the Spirit transfigures us from within and we are grateful.
We believe that you will empower us to be Your Presence to each other and to all those with whom we meet.
We pray now for continued hope and confidence that you will continue to generously pour out your gifts.
We pray for courage that we may remain committed to the vision of a stronger Church,
and for strength that we may work tirelessly to fulfill Your will.
We pray all of this in thanksgiving, and in the name of Jesus, our friend.
3/13/08
Dear Friends of VOTF:

The Association for Rights of Catholics in the Church (ARCC) is sponsoring a Symposium: Rebuilding the Catholic Church on May 16 and 17 at Temple University in Philadelphia. The Keynote speaker will be Bishop Geoffrey Robinson of Australia elaborating on his book, Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church.

Aside from Bishop Robinson's appearance on Friday evening, the all-day program on Saturday(attached) will feature the following speakers (including Paul Stanoz whose recent Commonweal article we all admired):

Joseph O’Callaghan    Why Not Elect Our bishops?

David Efroymson    History – What Went Wrong and Why?

Christine Schenk    Women of the Word, Women's Leadership in the Early Church

Paul Stanosz   Formation and the Priesthood

Leonard Swidler   Constitutional Catholicism

Robert Blair Kaiser   How We Can Take Back Our Church

There are two web sites with information:

www.arcc-catholic-rights.net and www.rccrenewal.org

This is an excellent opportunity for us and Philadelphia isn't far! Perhaps we could form some carpools and spend the weekend. Think about it!

With fiercest hope!
Skip Sullivan
Coastal Delmarva VOTF
5/12/08
Dear Friends of VOTF:


Please plan to join us for our next meeting on May 28 at 7:00 p.m. at the Ocean View Town Hall, 32 West Avenue, Ocean View. The program will feature a video presentation by Reverend Donald Cozzens entitled "Priesthood in Crisis: Everyone's Crisis."

Fr. Cozzens is the author of The Changing Face of the Priesthood, Sacred Silenceand Faith That Dares to Speak. Cozzens' insights are formed by his experience as counselor to priests, vicar for clergy and religious in the Diocese of Cleveland, Ohio, teacher of psychology and theology and rector of a seminary.

In the introduction to The Changing Face of the Priesthood, he says: "In the chapters ahead, I draw upon observations from my own pastoral experience, ... In doing so, I have tried to write from my center about what matters most to me. And I write aware of Kathleen Norris' warning that 'when we write from the center ... when we write about what matters to us most, words will take us places we don't want to go. You begin to see that you will have to say things you don't want to say, that may even be dangerous to say, but are absolutely necessary.' " 

I heard Fr. Cozzens give this talk at the VOTF convention in Providence last fall, and I promise that you will find it enlightening.


Keep the Faith, Change the Church!

Skip Sullivan
5/28/08
Hi All:

I thought you might be interested in seeing this TV interview with Bishop Robinson in which he discusses his recent book and the reaction to it.

Peace,
Skip


-----------------
Forwarded Message:
Subj: [VOTFND] Bishop Robinson on TV 
Date: 5/28/2008 10:12:22 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
From: gaile.pohlhaus@villanova.edu
Reply-to: VOTFND@yahoogroups.com
To: VOTFND@yahoogroups.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)



Bishop Geoffrey Robinson in an extended interview on US ABCTV (Main Forum)
posted by Brian Coyne , LINDEN, NSW, 28.05.2008, 00:49

See Bishop Robinson on "Faith Matters Now":
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4922240

Skip over the next segment and see the rest of the interview and Richard Gaillardetz' response at:
http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=4922281

Gaile M. Pohlhaus, PhD.
Practical Theologian

"Set love as your criterion..." Augustine of Hippo

.__,_._,___
06/18/08
Dear Friends of Coastal Delmarva VOTF:

We have an opportunity to support Sr. Maureen Turlish as a candidate for Region 4 Representative to the National VOTF Rep. Council. Please review the information below about the election and Sr. Maureen's statement of interest and qualifications. Note that June 22 is the cutoff date for casting your vote.

With fiercest hope,
Skip Sullivan

June 11, 2008

Memo from Nominations Committee

Subject: Election of Representative from Region 4 to the National
Representative Council

Dear Members of Voice of the Faithful, Region 4 (MD, DE, VA, DC, WV),

While we have received only one nominee to run for Representative to the
National Rep Council, we are fortunate that the nominee is superbly
qualified and is an outstanding member and supporter of Voice of the
Faithful:  Sister Maureen Paul Turlish.  Sister Maureen is a member and
leader of the Northern Delaware VOTF affiliate and a very active,
outspoken advocate for survivors of childhood sexual abuse and for reform
of laws to protect our children from abuse.

To cast your vote and show your support for Sister Maureen please reply to
votfregionfour@yahoo.com.  Please identify yourself by including your full name.
Remember that each VOTF member of a household may cast a vote. A simple statement such as: “I vote for Sister Maureen Turlish” is sufficient.

If you wish, you might also very briefly list the one or two top
priorities you believe Sister Maureen should focus on as a new member of
the Rep Council.  This feedback would be very helpful to Sister.

VOTES MUST BE CAST BY JUNE 22 AT THE LATEST.

Thank you for your interest and participation,

Nominations and Election Committee, Region 4
Chuck Miller
Judy Miller
Maryann Dolan

Below is Sister Maureen’s statement of interest and qualifications for the
Representative position:

STATEMENT OF INTEREST AND QUALIFICATIONS OF
SISTER MAUREEN PAUL TURLISH

I have been a religious sister for many years, a department chairperson,
and high school teacher for some 25 years.

Like many people I thought abuse of children by Catholic clergy was a rare
occurrence and presumed that any abusers were being dealt with
appropriately and the victims were getting all the help needed.  After the
scandal broke in 2002 I became increasingly involved in supporting and
standing with victims of childhood sexual abuse in our church.  On April
23, 2002, I traveled to Philadelphia to participate in my first church
demonstration supporting victims of clergy sexual abuse, held on the
return of U.S. cardinals from Rome.  I believe that was my first public
statement on record regarding the scandal, which was carried on CNN.

Demonstrating, speaking, writing Letters to the Editor, articles, and
commentary pieces, especially following the Philadelphia Grand Jury
Report, made people pay more attention because I had credibility and was a
nun.  I was, as it were, an insider, a nun going on record and calling for
the bishops to do right by the victims.

This was followed by advocacy for legislative reform both in Delaware and
Pennsylvania.  I spoke before the Delaware House and Senate Judiciary
Committees in support of broad legislation on child abuse.  I was invited
to testify in Maryland but
the child abuse bill was withdrawn under pressure from the institutional
church.

At a national convention of our sisters in Rhode Island in 2007 I prepared
a legislative action display to educate our sisters to the necessity of
legislative reform.   Because of our success in Delaware in getting the
Child Victims Law enacted I was invited along with Matt Conaty to speak to
Delaware's Child Victims Law at the national conference of NAPSAC, the
National Association to Prevent the Sexual Abuse of Children in November
2007. Advocacy work also led to my invitation to join the board of DACOA,
the Delaware Association of Children of Alcoholics.

As a nun, I believe I have a rather unique perspective to offer the
National Representative Council and I think I can be of help on the NRC in
continuing to advocate for legislative reform and in supporting all
victims of sexual abuse.
06/19/08
Dear Friends of VOTF:

I'm very sorry to announce that we have to cancel the meeting of our affiliate scheduled for 25 June. Our speaker, Dr. Polly Weldon, cannot come due to a medical problem and the Town of Ocean View has to use our meeting place for Town business that evening and is not able to obtain another venue for us as they did last time. In light of this, we do not plan to meet again until September.

In the meantime, the Steering Committee will be meeting to discuss our group's focus for the 2008-2009 period and would greatly appreciate your input. Please email any of us with your feedback on the programs we've had this year and/or any suggestions you have for where we should go from here. What topics are of interest to you? What course of action should we undertake? How can we better accomplish the three goals of VOTF?

We hope to hear from you!

Your Steering Committee
07/03/08
Dear Members and Friends of VOTF:

The election of a new representative to represent Region 4 (MD, VA, DE, DC, WV) on the National Representative Council has been completed.  Sister Maureen Paul Turlish will be the new representative from Region 4. Sister Maureen is an outstanding person with outstanding experience and other qualifications to serve on the Council.

While Sister Maureen was the only volunteer to run for the Council from Region 4, the fact that 61 members of Region 4 took the time to vote for Sister is a good indication of her rather substantial support.  Sixty-one responses out of 810 members reachable by e-mail is a fairly strong showing in comparison with the voting experience of other organizations.

Region 4 Nominations and Election Committee:

Chuck Miller, Northern Delaware Affiliate

Judy Miller, Northern Delaware Affiliate

Maryann Dolan, Montgomery County Maryland VOTF Affiliate

07/03/08

  Tom Doyle Lays out the Facts, Using Paraclete Letters and His Own Experience, in Article Published Here at City of Angels Network Today MORE