The agenda behind Voice of the Faithful (VOTF) is "inherently ambiguous and disingenuous," St. Louis University Professor James Hitchcock observed at the Catholic Citizens of Illinois, Inc. monthly speaker forum on June 13 in Chicago. "They are not fully candid about their nature and their purposes, but they have to be that way by necessity."

Formed in the midst of the 2002 sexual abuse scandals in the Archdiocese of Boston, VOTF claims to have attracted over 35,000 members nationwide. An estimated 4,000 people attended their first convention in Boston last year. The Boston scandals were brought to light primarily due to the efforts of the Boston Globe, which won a Pulitzer Prize for coverage that culminated in the resignation of Cardinal Law. The scandals also paved the way for liberal opportunists to press their agenda for changing the church, and VOTF has emerged as the vehicle of choice for long-time dissenters with previous ties to Call to Action, liberal theologies, and homosexual influenced seminaries.

Prof. Hitchcock noted that VOTF's name and use of terminology was manipulative. The term, 'the faithful' implies the entire Catholic Church, but VOTF clearly does not speak for all of 'the faithful.' Many in VOTF claim to have the true vision of lay participation according to Vatican II. VOTF's stilted logic is that those who reject their brand of lay involvement are rejecting Vatican II teaching.

Prof. Hitchcock raised several examples of questionable conduct during the past year by VOTF. When their web site chat room began to fill with questions regarding the dissenting and heretical views of VOTF speakers and members, it was shut down. "This is very strange behavior for an organization that claims it wants openness in the church and for everyone to have a voice," Prof. Hitchcock observed. As reported at www.catholiccitizens.org, during a meeting of Faithful St. Louis (a chapter of VOTF) the microphones were literally turned off in mid-sentence as concerned Catholics attempted to pin down VOTF guest speakers with hard questions about dissent.

In spite of their claims to represent a broad cross section of Catholics, VOTF chapters are dominated by liberals and dissenters. This should surprise no one, observes Prof. Hitchcock, "If liberals are the only ones who attend VOTF meetings, it will be a predominantly liberal organization." Hitchcock pointing out that of the fifty or so theologians who recently signed a statement supporting VOTF, several high profile liberal names were present, but none of the signers were identifiably orthodox theologians. At VOTF's website, "there are links to National Catholic Reporter, to Commonweal, to America, to a group pushing for an end to priestly celibacy, but no links to groups supporting orthodoxy."

VOTF's choice of speakers is also revealing. Debra Hafner is a self-described Unitarian Universalist and the Executive Director of the Sex Education Information Council of the United States, which Prof. Hitchcock described as "the single most damaging sex education program in the nation, promoting the worst kind of programs." After Ms. Hafner spoke at the first VOTF convention, VOTF leadership claimed they had made a mistake inviting her, that they were not unaware of the extent of her views. Ms. Hafner angrily responded that she had informed VOTF prior to her appearance she was not comfortable addressing a Catholic organization because her appearance may be construed as inappropriate. According to Hafner, VOTF conference organizers insisted that she come anyway!

"It was only after Hafner became a PR problem that VOTF backed off," noted Prof. Hitchcock. "Of the issues that are on the table today regarding accountability in the Catholic hierarchy, what does sex education have to do with any of it? There is obviously a not-so-hidden-agenda in inviting such a speaker." VOTF meetings have also featured ex-priest James Carroll, Notre Dame's very liberal Father Richard McBrien, and democratization advocate Rev. Tom Doyle.

'Liturgies' sponsored by VOTF have also raised questions as to their loyalty to the teachings of the Church. Prof. Hitchcock recounted an Internet report of a recent VOTF liturgy that began with blessing of oil, but there was no specification as to who (a priest?) was doing the blessing. The unnamed celebrants then anointed the community with the newly blessed oil. Texts were not chosen from the lectionary for the day's Mass, and several non-scriptural texts were included. "There was no invocation of Father, Son and Holy Spirit anywhere in the liturgy," noted Hitchcock, "probably because this is a big stumbling block for feminists. There was celebration of the Eucharist. We can assume it was done by a priest, but they didn't say so. Of course, there was liturgical dance. The blessing at the end was a mutual blessing where all the members of the congregation blessed one another instead of receiving the blessing of the priest."

VOTF claims they respect the teachings of the Catholic Church, however, "you will not find any (Catholic) today, or any other period of history who will stand up and say, 'I am a heretic'," noted Prof. Hitchcock. "On the contrary, they sincerely believe they are orthodox. VOTF can claim they are faithful to the church and respect its authority, but only if you let them define the terms."

"If the VOTF were a bland featureless organization that did not take stands on controversial issues like homosexuality, clerical celibacy, or women priests, but merely wanted more openness in the church, most of the people who so ardently belong probably wouldn't have joined in the first place," Prof. Hitchcock concluded. "They tend to use bland phrases like 'lay participation in pastoral selection.' They don't spell out what this means, but it is not unrealistic to believe this means they should chose their own pastors and bishops."

In the broader context of American dissent, VOTF, "is simply another incarnation of a movement that has been around since Vatican II, aiming at a radical restructuring of the Church. This includes taking away hierarchical authority and (imposing) group decision-making. They are reluctant to admit that the dogmas and catechisms of the Catholic Church are unchanging, and in many cases insist that they be opened to change. They have serious problems with the Catholic Church's teaching on sexual morality, and while they have been depressingly successful in our universities, in our schools, in the seminaries, and among many priests, but they have not won the decisive victory they anticipated in the 60's."

What isn't clear is how VOTF would provide any kind of a solution because of their unwillingness to confront homosexuality as the source of the problem. Prof. Hitchcock noted that in Long Island priest who organized for VOTF was recently exposed as a pedophile. The response was noteworthy because, "there was a certain amount of surprise, but no agonizing self-reappraisal (by VOTF.) It should come as no surprise that priests in rebellion against the church's teaching on sexuality find themselves attracted to dissident groups like VOTF, which are mounting campaigns against (allegedly) outmoded teachings."

"Homosexuality is the issue VOTF cannot address," observes Hitchcock. "It is preposterous to conclude anything but that homosexual clergy have been the source of the scandal. Even though efforts have been made to deny this or explain it away, it is overwhelmingly obvious that clerical homosexuality is the problem. Orthodox Catholics have suggested the answer is to weed out homosexual clergy to make sure we have priests living up to the teachings of the church. But VOTF type people see these teachings a problematical. They are inclined to want to change the teachings of the church. VOTF has not taken an official position on homosexuality, but based on the opinions of some of their nationally know members, they regard the church's teaching to be wrong, rigid and unloving, and would like to change it. And to do that would make the problem of clerical misconduct worse than it is already."

Unable and unwilling to attack homosexuality as the root cause of the sex abuse scandals, VOTF emerges as an organization participating in "the worst kind of opportunism," Prof. Hitchcock concludes. "All kinds of people have jumped on the bandwagon of clerical sexual abuse. VOFT is blatantly taking advantage of widespread public scandal and dismay." The fact is, notes Prof. Hitchcock, that, "if we successfully kept homosexuals from becoming ordained, we could be reasonably assured that there would be no young boys molested. Liberals say that's too high a price to pay, but it seems undeniable. Supporters of VOTF who support homosexuality accept the risk of further incidents of abuse, even though they are claiming to be outraged," a foolish position Hitchcock and most Catholics find to be indefensible and preposterous.

In Chicagoland, VOTF has met with mixed results. Chapters have been organized in Inverness and Oak Park, but are generally comprised of older Catholics and led by familiar activists from the Call to Action crowd. A better barometer of Chicago Catholic sentiment is that overall Mass attendance has increased since last year, and the recent capital campaign for the Archdiocese of Chicago broke all previous records for fundraising. By comparison, Mass attendance in Boston has declined dramatically along with contributions, causing layoffs, service disruption, and closing of entire ministries.

The manipulative and opportunistic tactics of VOTF also played out in Chicago when VOTF co-founder Dr. James Muller requested and was granted a meeting with Francis Cardinal George while Muller was in Chicago for a medical convention in March of this year. An Archdiocese spokesman called the meeting an informal effort to cover a variety of issues, including an opportunity for the Cardinal to get clarification of the ambiguities in VOTF's agenda.

Dr. Muller left the meeting and walked into a press conference he had called, gloating that he had just experienced the most productive and "encouraging" meeting ever with a bishop, falsely portraying the Cardinal as supportive of VOTF, which he is not. This misrepresentation was carried the next day in both major Chicago newspapers. Demonstrating the manipulative nature that VOTF 'openness' policies, Dr. Muller never bothered to mention to the Cardinal that he had arranged a press conference immediately following their meeting.

A careful evaluation of the disingenuousness and ambiguity that characterizes Voice of the Faithful's conduct over the last year casts serious doubt on the credibility of their claim to be part of the solution to the clerical scandals. With a motto like 'keep the faith, change the church' few should be surprised that orthodox Catholics have never been invited to join VOTF, nor will they be in the future. After a year of operation, VOTF has emerged as a manipulative and hypocritical dissenter organization compounding the disunity and corruption besetting the Catholic Church in America. Groups like VOTF will come and go, Prof. Hitchcock concludes, but the Faith will live on thanks to truly faithful Catholic defending Christ and His Church.

Karl Maurer is a CPA in Chicago can be contacted at karl@aquinconsult.com.

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