VOTF, your 15 minutes are up

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Jul 13, 2007

The sex-abuse scandal in Boston and the unflagging editorial support of the Boston Globe helped catapult Voice of the Faithful into national prominence. But from the start there have been questions about whether VOTF represents all the faithful, or only those inclined toward leftist causes.

In response to such questions, VOTF has always said that the group does not take positions on internal Church disputes. But that begs the question: What is an internal Church dispute, and what is a matter of faith? Would VOTF welcome the participation of monophysites who claim to be Catholic? How about anti-Semites? OK, then; what about self-described Catholics who support the ordination of women? Catholic women who claim to be priests?

But those are all old, stale arguments. Let's get to the latest news. VOTF has released a list of the speakers who will be appearing at the group's gala national conference in October. Please try to pay attention while you scroll down; it really won't take that long. Here's the list of confirmed speakers in its entirety:

Richard McBrien

Golly jeekers what a surprising and original choice!

No doubt you'll be excited by the opportunity to hear from Father McBrien, who-- according the VOTF press release-- "was recognized as one of the most prominent voices of Catholicism when he appeared to discuss Pope Paul VI's death and the election of Pope John Paul II." Think about that for a minute.

But that's not all. The press release is unsigned, but it lapses into the first-person singular to say, on behalf of VOTF:

If there were only one educational wand I could wave in my own work edu-cating [sic] Catholics it would be to require them to memorize and understand McBrien's definition of the Church.

McBrien's definition of the Church. Perfect. I believe we now have an adequate description of the "faithful" represented by VOTF.