Lay Catholic group marks 5th year

Leo Troy recalls five years ago when the pastor of his church invited parishioners to the front pews to discuss revelations that the Boston Archdiocese had covered up decades-long abuses by pedophile priests.

The Roman Catholic church, he said, didn't usually air its problems publicly. So along with feeling angry because of the scope of the abuse, Troy also felt empowered.

"It really moved a lot of people to talk about it more," he said. "It's a worldwide problem. That's why this organization came together."

Voice of the Faithful is marking its fifth anniversary this weekend. What started as a handful of outraged parishioners at St. John the Evangelist Church in Wellesley has grown to an international organization that claims tens of thousands of members.

Initially seen as a rebel group, it called for the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law, who took responsibility for sheltering abusers. But Voice of the Faithful has since evolved into a more buttoned-down organization.

Its leaders are preparing for their second meeting with Cardinal Sean O'Malley, who succeeded Law after he resigned under pressure in 2002. O'Malley has been praised for his efforts to help the victims; he helped negotiate an $85 million settlement for more than 550 of them shortly after arriving in Boston.

"What we're trying to do is set up a system for collaboration on issues of mutual concern," said Dorothy Kennedy, president of the Boston Voice of the Faithful council. "We're both concerned about the protection of children. We're both concerned about justice for survivors. We're both concerned with rebuilding the church."

Critics say Voice has become too cozy with the church that it says it is trying to reform. Skip Shea of Uxbridge, who says he was abused by a former priest of the Worcester Diocese, said church leaders will exploit the meeting with Voice members for public relations.

"Each diocese can use lip service to say they're moving forward with this. I don't see the point in sitting with them," Shea, 46, said Saturday as he stood outside St. John's, where Voice of the Faithful held a "Mass of Remembrance and Rededication."

He and several others said Voice should devote more time to helping victims, some of whom can't go in a church because it triggers too many painful memories.

Voice's goals are to support abuse victims, support priests of integrity and shape structural change in the church, such as more community control of parishes.

Kennedy defends the organization's tactics, arguing that direct negotiations with O'Malley are the best hope for changes. Voice and sex abuse survivor groups have pushed O'Malley to develop a public list of archdiocese priests and employees dismissed for sexual misconduct and to publicly support the elimination of the statute of limitations for sex crime laws.

"The last meeting was productive in that we began a conversation," she said. "If that turns into structures so that we can have ongoing dialogue and work together ... that would be terrific."

Kennedy acknowledges the momentum from the early years has slowed as some Voice members branch out to fight the archdiocese's widespread church closings. But, she said, there is a "strong, steady core."

It was five years ago that The Boston Globe began a series of stories that exposed the scope of the sex abuse crisis. The nation's fourth largest Roman Catholic archdiocese was shaken when court documents showed that church leaders protected pedophile priests by transferring them from parish to parish, rather than removing them and alerting police.

The Rev. John Connolly, special assistant to O'Malley, said the revelations had a "traumatic and devastating effect" on the archdiocese, which experienced declines in financial donations and attendance at Mass.

Barbara Thorp, director of the archdiocese's office of Pastoral Support and Outreach, said her office coordinates mental health counseling for about 300 victims. Last month, the office began a monthly Mass for survivors.

"The breach of trust was so profound that the task of rebuilding that trust is daunting," she said. "It can't be bought. It's going to take some time."