An article profiles Faithful Voice, a small group that is countering Voice of the Faithful.” FV is trying to let everyone know what VOTF really is and what it stands for.
VOTF claims that FV is distorting what it really stands for.
- ”(Faithful Voice) continues to misinterpret what we say,” Emerton said. “They flatly refuse to believe our stated missions and goals.” ... Voice of the Faithful fully backs the church’s doctrinal teachings, he said. What it questions are some manmade rules, such as those that prevent lay people from knowing where their donations go or the backgrounds of priests assigned to their parishes. Voice’s aims are to support good priests and increase the laity involvement in church governance, as laid out in Vatican II reforms of 1962, Emerton said.
VOTF continues to deny the obvious, but their web site still contains as suggested reading a paper that contains blatant rejection of Catholic teaching. Until VOTF repudiates this article and other similar statements and actions which suggest a dissenting spirit, I won’t believe their “stated mission and goals.” That’s because they contradict their own stated mission and goals.
- One of Voice of the Faithful’s founders is Janice Leary, who is associated with the group Call to Action, which promotes priestly ordination for women and homosexuals. ... Leary, who won’t refer to Faithful Voice by its name, instead calling it “Unfaithful Verbiage,” said she supports Voice of the Faithful because it’s committed to increasing lay involvement in church affairs.
This doesn’t engender confidence. Call to Action is one of the most notorious dissenting groups, rejecting almost every bit of Catholic moral teaching. (Well, maybe not all of it—they don’t advocate torturing small animals—but they’ve pretty much bought into the depraved sexuality of the modern age among other things.) And does VOTF have any founders from any orthodox groups, i.e. groups which advocate complete adgerence to the totality of Catholic dogma? I thought not. Only dissenters.
- Emerton asked people skeptical of Voice’s intentions to watch what the group does, rather than speculate based on what groups such as Faithful Voice say.
I am judging VOTF by what it does ... or in this case what it fails to do. Emerton, remove the heterodox teachings from your web site and repudiate any dissent from Church dogma (we can agree to disagree on matters of discipline like married priests) and I will reconsider my view of VOTF. I’m waiting.
Meanwhile the few faithful voices of Faithful Voice will continue to educate the rest of us on what VOTF really believes and stands for.
