ACCOUNTABILITY NOW!:
A TEMPLATE FOR LOVING ACTION TO INSPIRE NECESSARY CHANGE IN THE CHURCH
In this period of moral depravity within our Church it is crucial that our voices be heard. We are surrounded by incident after incident that supports our theme of “Accountability Now!” The Holy Spirit is clearly present reaffirming our theme for the National Convocation and the urgency for us to begin to respond to the injustice that the media is currently reporting! While we are not yet ready to execute a full-scale national action campaign, we believe that both the momentum and the opportunity are upon us to act. Please consider this as a recommended template to initiate an action that is meaningful to us all and may even incite non-VOTF members to join the cause to help us grow critical mass for the Pentecost 2006 event.
The Theme: Jesus was never silent in the face of injustice and we are silent no longer!
Jesus’ words and actions ground/reground our efforts (not canon law, not encyclicals, nothing but our Savior as model). Who could argue with that?
The Target: Primary: The Cardinals and Bishops at their residences;
Secondary: All Catholics as a Wake up call.
Since our target is the cardinals and bishops because of their culpability in the misuse of power, we decided that staging an action in front of their residences was the most appropriate location.
We defined all Catholics as our secondary target because we believe this action will generate press and attention will all be focused on the power structure in the Church. It clearly will ignite the passions of those who have been enraged by the media events of the past weeks, but who aren’t sure how to respond.
The Goal: To stand in solidarity and name the hierarchy’s sins and appeal to their consciences to begin to act with accountability.
The specific outcomes that are desired will differ vastly from location to location. Boston may decide to re-seat their pastor and lock out his replacement. Philadelphia may work toward having the Statute of Limitations extended and bring civil action against the Archdiocese and its hierarchy. Chicago may demand open disclosure of all the pedophile priests and a complete plan of how supervision will definitively occur.However, the theme is clearly the same – we need Accountability Now!
The Timing: The month of October.
October is typically the month that all Catholic Churches count heads to give a profile of attendance for each parish at each Mass. Historically it is the month that the Church uses this metric to assess how it is doing parish by parish, diocese by diocese in Mass attendance.
The Tactics: Recent news of Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago’s new crises has motivated many of us to speak our truth in love through action. Fortunately, the news of last week comes at a time when Voice of the Faithful is currently in the process of developing a well-orchestrated national action plan. However, we also need to take action now. We must demonstrate groundswells of outrage and discontent.
The following three options for action are suggestions for what you might choose to do locally. Some of the following actions are slightly more conservative, while others will appeal to affiliates more prepared for direct action. We ask you as affiliate members to discuss, prayerfully discern and act on the recommendation/s that most apply to your own local situation. If none of the following fit your situation, develop your own action plans! We must all do something.
- Hold a prayer vigil at the Bishop’s/Cardinal’s residence. If you will use banners, capture “Accountability Now!” on your largest banner, and then fill in with smaller signs taken from suggested themes below. If possible, have the largest banner professionally madeso that it stands out, is consistent and speaks a bold message across the country! Use this banner at all subsequent events: meetings, actions, etc. While holding your prayer vigil, pray for the conversion of the hearts of our hierarchy. (NOTE: All Bishops are meeting in Rome beginning October 9. Plan accordingly.)
- Withhold contributions for a week or for the entire month of October. Send your typical contribution to VOTF to help fund the Pentecost 2006 national action OR set up a special fund (a Compassion Fund perhaps) that allows you to pay charities, salaries and/or utility bills directly until local issue demands are met.
- Bring your convictions to Mass every Sunday in October. Protest the injustice and lack of accountability within our institutional Church. Sit together, stand together through mass, or adopt some other form of physical expression. It is crucial that if there are numbers of you, and that you all wear a common symbol so you may be identified as a group concerned with a specific issue (e.g. Explanatory button, sticker, particular color, stole, etc.). Finally, consider developing and handing out literature that explains why you are standing, and hand it out to parishioners as they enter the church.
Essential Follow-up:
Plan a meeting of interested people within one week of your planned action. Advertise this meeting widely at the action itself, and gain commitments from people to come to that meeting in order to plan next steps. Don’t let this be an action in isolation that the bishop or cardinal can just “wait out!” Use the momentum generated to keep going and keep growing!
Write Letters to the Editor explaining your actions. Letters to the Editor are the most widely-read part of newspapers. If your letter is published, you will reach many thousands of people, many of them Catholics who could become involved. Make sure every letter to the Editor written contains a method for people to be in touch with you about getting involved (e.g. contact name and email, notice of the next meeting, etc.).
Notify your VOTF National Council representative about the actions going on in your Region.
It is essential that we stay in communication with each other and understand what is happening across the country. This is how we will learn from each other and become maximally effective.
DETAILS OF HOW TO ORGANIZE A PRAYER VIGIL AT YOUR BISHOP'S RESIDENCE
Imagine: People stand prayerfully in front ofthe bishop's residence, holding banners and signs and with informational leaflets for press and interested passersby.
Important Tasks to Do ahead of Time:
- Decide who will play which roles:
a)Coordinators/Leaders - these individuals will give help to plan the action, and on the day of, will give oversight to what’s happening, answer people’s questions and convey a warm, welcoming, confident spirit. They will also provide opening and closing comments at the vigil.
b)Welcomers – these people will welcome all who come to participate in the vigil, explain how they can be fully involved, and brief them on using non-violent discipline
c)Leafleters – these people will pass out literature on the day of the vigil to passers by
d)Monitors – these people will help people to move in an orderly, dignified way, with they signs and banners visible.
e)Press Spokespersons – these people should be informed, articulate, thoughtful, and confident
f)Police Liasons – these people will interact with police in a warm, friendly and informative way
- If appropriate, decide how to raise money for vigil expenses and start raising it.
- Scout out the area. Make sure there's enough space in front of the residence for vigilers. Check whether there will be any legal problems with demonstrating there. Study the best positioning for the vigil.
- Design/write the materials for the action (photocopy each on different colors):
a) a leaflet explaining why you are in vigil, and how others can join you in the future.
b) a "Nonviolent Discipline" to channel anger and love as Jesus loved.
c)a flyer with details about/directions to the next meeting
- Design and make banners and lots of signs (see below for sample wording).
- Get a good P.A. system.
- Make many copies of a clear map showing how to get to the vigil site and distribute.
- Police liaison -- if appropriate, contact police ahead of time, tell them your plans, explain the purpose of the vigil and that people are under a nonviolent discipline.
- Press Spokespersons - Contact the press and ask them to attend.
- Recruitment, recruitment, recruitment–contact VOTF members, lay Catholics, sympathetic priests, potential allies and get commitments to attend.
Important Tasks on the Day of the Vigil:
- Hold a pre-meeting for the people who have official roles during the vigil. Coordinators should remind each of his/her responsibilities and field any questions. At this meeting, give leaflets to Leafleters, copies of Non-violent Discipline and Meeting Notices to Welcomers, talking points to Press Spokespersons, and badges to all that indicate name and role.
- Bring signs/banners and hand them out to participants. At the vigil site, position the signs and banners so they can best be seen by passers-by. Put the main message in the middle.
- Position Leafleters and Welcomers where there's the most foot traffic; suggest something warm and positive to say as they hand out their materials. Position Press Spokespeople in one place so the press can easily find them. Have Police Liasons introduce themselves to the police. Position Coordinators/Leaders at the head of the group (especially in a march) so they can lead the way and be easily located. Position Monitors around the perimeter of the march and/or vigil.
- Set up and test the P.A. system.
- Possibly pass the hat to help cover expenses.
The Vigil Itself
- Coordinators/Leaders make some opening remarks about why we are there, what we are asking, and convey the spirit of the vigil (prayerful, peaceful, loving, etc.). They also remind everyone of the non-violent discipline. The vigil officially begins when the Coordinators/Leaders offer an opening prayer.
- Each vigil-er then comes forward with his/her sign. They offer a prayer, Scripture reading, or reflection pertinent to their sign's wording.
- After two hours or so (pre-select your end time!), everyone gathers to close the vigil.
- The Coordinators/Leaders announce that there will be a meeting next week at (insert location and meeting time) to plan next steps. They will then solicit BRIEF reflections, evaluative comments, and next step suggestions from people while the vigil is fresh in people’s minds.
- The vigil should conclude with a closing prayer.
BANNER/SIGN MESSAGES
Primary Banner
“Accountability Now!”
Who we are and How We Feel
"Voice of the Faithful of...... "
"We Support the Many Good Priests"
"We Grieve for Our Church"
Abuse Of Power/Need for lay involvement
"Laity in Church Governance = No Sex Abuse"
"The Laity Should Help Choose Our Bishops"
"Respect the Laity's Gifts, Adulthood, Intelligence and Experience"
"Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely"
"We're Seeing the Arrogance of Power"
"End the Secrecy"
“Communio, Not Dictates"
"End Feudal Church Government"
"We Are Not Serfs"
"Bring the Laity into Church Governance"
"Share Power with the Laity"
(If the residence is a mansion) "This mansion symbolizes all that's wrong with the Church"
Sexual Abuse Crisis and Cover-Up
“Never Again -- Clergy abuse, Bishop cover-up"
"Would Jesus Cover Up Sex Abuse?"
"Absolute Clerical Power = Haven for Pedophiles"
"We Are Angry at the Abuse of Our Children"
Appeal to the Conscience of the Bishop/Cardinal
"Dear God, Make Our Bishop More Like Jesus"
"Repent"
"The Whole World is Watching"
“Jesus is Watching”
SCRIPTURAL REFERENCES
Our deep dissatisfaction with the Church, and the loving actions that we will undertake as a result,arise out of our faith in Jesus. His words and His actions remind us that we are worthy in our cause.
LK. 17:3 If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. (RELATED MESSAGE: Blank is a sin. We are ready to forgive. Are you ready to Blank?)
LK. 16:10-11 Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? (RELATED MESSAGE: Can we trust you with the true riches?)
MT. 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled. (RELATED MESSAGE: We are hungry and thirsty. Are you?)
MT. 5:10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
MT. 5:23-24 Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First, go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. (RELATED MESSAGE: We are your brothers and sisters. Come and be reconciled with us.)
MT. 20:25-28 Jesus summoned them [his disciples] and said, You know that the rulers of the gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
MK. 12:38-39 Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets.
TITUS 1:8 A bishop as God's steward must be blameless, not arrogant, not irritable, not a drunkard, not aggressive, not greedy for sordid gain, but hospitable, a lover of goodness, temperate, just, holy and self-controlled.
CANON LAW REFERENCE
Code of Canon Law #387: [A bishop] is bound to give an example of holiness, charity, humility, and simplicity of life."