Carol McKinley of Faithful Voice reports that Voice of the Faithful members are planning to stand outside a Duxbury, Mass., parish and sign everyone with ashes as they come in “to signify sorrow and unity.” Unity with whom? And what if I don’t wanted to be signed with ashes? Does that mean I am not sorry for what was done to abuse victims? And if I do take the ashes, I suppose VOTF will use that as a way to claim that so many in the parish support their mission.
This is the sort of thing that is divisive—an outside group coming into a parish and dictating the terms of what is a good Catholic and what isn’t. I’m sure there are many more people in the parish who are not members of VOTF than are, and why should they be forced to walk this line as they prepare to enter their church for the sacrifice of the Mass?
