Are the bishops failing their flock?THE JUNE June: see month. INTERVIEW ("HOW WILL BENEDICT RULE?") with Dietmar Mieth was especially interesting to me as a leader of our local affiliate of Voice of the Faithful Voice of the Faithful (VOTF) is an organization of lay Catholics, formed in early 2002 in response to the Roman Catholic sex abuse cases. Founding and mission VOTF began when a small group of parishioners met in the basement of St. . He speaks about bishops engaging in dialogue with Rome with more self-confidence, emphasizing that Pope Benedict XVI  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. has spoken about collegiality col·le·gi·al·i·ty n. 1. Shared power and authority vested among colleagues. 2. Roman Catholic Church The doctrine that bishops collectively share collegiate power. on several occasions since being elected pope. This collegiality isn't just granted, it must also be claimed by the bishops. The U.S. bishops are called to be the shepherds of a particular flock--the church in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . More often than not, it seems to me, the bishops speak to Rome in their own interests rather than those of their people. Many bishops appear to give little importance to knowing the true interests and sentiments of their congregations. Mieth also states that he'd like to see more laity LAITY. Those persons who do not make a part of the clergy. In the United States the division of the people into clergy and laity is not authorized by law, but is, merely conventional. renew and strengthen their involvement with the church rather than walk away, saying people need to get involved to bring about change. Too often, however, people hit a brick wall after trying to bring about even small changes. Our bishop here on Long Island, while publicly giving the appearance of dialogue with the local affiliate of Voice of the Faithful, continues to frustrate this exchange in the background and continues to ban us from meeting on church property, which he refers to as his own. Patricia Zirkel, Co-Chair, Board of Directors Long Island Voice of the Faithful Long Island, N.Y. |
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