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Goal2

Submitted by webmaster on Sat, 05/12/2007 - 16:22.

Support Priests of Integrity

While we support this goal, we do not have any active initiatives in this area at the present time. From the beginning this goal has been difficult because of the vague language (for example just what is meant by “integrity”).

One idea we have on the back burner is to contact and affirm pastors who served in a parish after clerical sexual abuse had occurred. If you have ideas for action that fall under Goal 2 please contact Fr. Tim Power at 952-937-9368.

RETRIEVING THE WISDOM PROJECT

The Situation:

Over the last 20 years many parishes had to endure the revelation that a priest serving their parish was accused of sexually molesting a minor. Once the priest was removed, the parish had to begin the long journey of healing. The pastors who were assigned to serve such a parish during the healing process were facing many unique situations – from losing credibility among the laity to dealing with their own feelings of being betrayed by a fellow priest. Most of those pastors gained "wisdom" under fire that should not be lost.

The Proposal:

It is the intent of the VOTF-TC Goal Two ("To support priests of integrity") Group to retrieve some of this wisdom. It is our intent to do this in three steps:

  1. To identify and send a written survey to at least 25 of those pastors.
  2. After looking at the themes that emerge from the surveys to then invite those same pastors to a series of lunches (3 to 5 pastors at a time) to delve more deeply into their shared wisdom.
  3. To share the gathered wisdom with the pastors who participated and with the wider church. The latter could take the form of a report sent to all priests of the Archdiocese, an article in the “Catholic Spirit” newspaper, an article in The Priest magazine, etc.

Goal:

To affirm pastors who had to serve a parish where clerical sexual abuse had occurred – and to share their gained wisdom with other pastors who are asked to be “priests of integrity” under other difficult situations.

Cost:

Labor – done by volunteers.

Materials – will need resources for postage, mileage and the hosted meals.