Minutes: January 17, 2005
Meeting Minutes Jan. 17, 2005
St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Essex Fells Voice of the Faithful, Northern NJ met at St. Peter's Episcopal Church on Monday, January 17, at 7:30p.m. The evening's speaker was David France, author of Our Fathers. Approximately 85 people were in attendance. His excellent talk began with excerpts from his book and included the following points: * Priests ordained in the early 60's, particularly the class of 1960 had the highest incidence of sexual abuse of minors. * Priests of that era often entered an iconic, idealized priesthood. * Popes counseled extreme vigilance against the temptations of modern culture, especially for seminarians whose world was closely monitored. * In that era, sexuality was rarely discussed in the course of preparation for priesthood. Texts pertaining to sex were written in Latin. Meanwhile, the world outside the seminary was changing rapidly. Because problems regarding sexuality began to be recognized, there was a wider discussion of sex, sexuality and the demands of the celibate commitment beginning in the 1980s. * In the 60s and 70s, approximately 15,000 priests left active ministry. Most left to marry. Fewer men entered the priesthood. The proportion of gay priests rose. The Catholic Bishop's Conference accepts the current percentage of gay priests as 30%. Other experts feel it is higher. * The current hierarchy seem to accept that church numbers will dwindle in the future. But they are content with that fact if those who are left accept the traditional orthodoxy. * The important question for VOTF is how do we help the church to change so that it can be a healing community for thousands of victims and their families? How can VOTF members provide a healing community? The question and answer period included discussions of the church's attitude toward women, the lack of clarity about canonical trials of accused priests, church teaching on sexuality, the dichotomy between church preaching to the laity about sex and the practice of clergy, the lack of accountability by bishops, and the power of withdrawing financial support. The meeting ended at 9:00p.m. Minutes by Shea Campbell.
St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Essex Fells Voice of the Faithful, Northern NJ met at St. Peter's Episcopal Church on Monday, January 17, at 7:30p.m. The evening's speaker was David France, author of Our Fathers. Approximately 85 people were in attendance. His excellent talk began with excerpts from his book and included the following points: * Priests ordained in the early 60's, particularly the class of 1960 had the highest incidence of sexual abuse of minors. * Priests of that era often entered an iconic, idealized priesthood. * Popes counseled extreme vigilance against the temptations of modern culture, especially for seminarians whose world was closely monitored. * In that era, sexuality was rarely discussed in the course of preparation for priesthood. Texts pertaining to sex were written in Latin. Meanwhile, the world outside the seminary was changing rapidly. Because problems regarding sexuality began to be recognized, there was a wider discussion of sex, sexuality and the demands of the celibate commitment beginning in the 1980s. * In the 60s and 70s, approximately 15,000 priests left active ministry. Most left to marry. Fewer men entered the priesthood. The proportion of gay priests rose. The Catholic Bishop's Conference accepts the current percentage of gay priests as 30%. Other experts feel it is higher. * The current hierarchy seem to accept that church numbers will dwindle in the future. But they are content with that fact if those who are left accept the traditional orthodoxy. * The important question for VOTF is how do we help the church to change so that it can be a healing community for thousands of victims and their families? How can VOTF members provide a healing community? The question and answer period included discussions of the church's attitude toward women, the lack of clarity about canonical trials of accused priests, church teaching on sexuality, the dichotomy between church preaching to the laity about sex and the practice of clergy, the lack of accountability by bishops, and the power of withdrawing financial support. The meeting ended at 9:00p.m. Minutes by Shea Campbell.
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