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  Catholic Group Eyes Wider Role
Voice of the Faithful to Meet Here, Share 'Wisdom of the Laity

By John J. Shaughnessy
Indianapolis Star [Indianapolis IN]
July 2, 2005

The leaders of a national Catholic laity organization that will meet in Indianapolis next week say they want more meaningful involvement in the Catholic Church.

"This is our church, and the wisdom of everyone is needed," says Kris Ward, vice president of Voice of the Faithful. "Now is the time for the wisdom of the laity to have a place at the table where all the voices of the Lord's people are heard together."

About 500 Catholic laypeople are expected to attend the convocation that has the theme "The Laity Speak: Accountability Now." The convocation will be held in the Indiana Convention Center Friday through July 10.

Voice of the Faithful was formed in Massachusetts in 2002, in response to the clergy sexual abuse crisis. Since then, the organization has set three major goals: to support victims of abuse, to support "priests of integrity" and to shape structural change within the church, Ward says.

Voice of the Faithful leaders stress that their goal is not to change church doctrine or dogma. Instead, they want the laity to have a greater voice concerning issues facing the church.

"We're not trying to do away with the wisdom of priests, bishops and the pope," Ward says. "We're not saying we have all the wisdom, but the wisdom of the laity is there."

The group plans to focus its attention on three issues at its Indianapolis meeting: bishop accountability, financial accountability and lay accountability.

Bishops need to be held accountable for their roles in the clergy sexual abuse crisis, the group says. Catholics also have to press for financial accountability, in terms of having access to information about the use of their contributions to the church. And laypeople also have to be held accountable for making sure they become involved in the church, the group states.

"One of our goals for the convocation is to create a good list of concrete action steps that would get more people involved in the church," says Ken Sauer, the president of the organization's Indianapolis affiliate. "Then we hope to put those action steps into effect."

The organization has more than 30,000 members in more than 200 affiliates nationwide, leaders say. There are more than 62 million Catholics in the United States and about 836,000 Catholics in Indiana, according to the American Religion Data Archive.

Ward says Voice of the Faithful's members are not dissidents. "We are mainstream, in-the-pew Catholics who want to remain in the church. The idea for us is to be Catholic together."For more information about the group's convocation, go to www .votf.org.