upward ever upward

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Oct 17, 2007

Remember VOTF, the reform outfit that wants to "change Church structures" but won't let on as to which structures it wants to change? They're gathering, again, to call the Church to transparency.

Voice of the Faithful, the organization of reform-minded lay Catholics spawned by the priest sex-abuse scandal that erupted in the Archdiocese of Boston five years ago, will hold its third national convention beginning Friday at the Rhode Island Convention Center.

The two-day event, featuring more than 30 workshops and talks by such luminaries as the Rev. Richard McBrien, a theologian at the University of Notre Dame, is expected to draw between 500 and 700 participants, according to the group's president, Mary Pat Fox.

The number is only a fraction of the 4,200 who turned out for Voice of the Faithful's first convention at the Hynes Convention Center in 2002, but organizers say that should not be seen as a decline.

Five years ago: 4,200. Tomorrow: 700 max. And that, we're told, should not be seen as a decline. VOTF may not have replaced many career ecclesiastics as yet, but they're learning the language fine.