BOSTON -- Nearly 4,000 members of a new organization of Catholic laity and victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests have vowed to change the Church, according to The Associated Press.
Members of the Boston-based Voice of the Faithful held a national conference July 20-21 to discuss changes they wanted to see in the wake of the Church's sexual abuse scandal. Members voted to urge Pope John Paul II to endorse new rules for dealing with abuse and punish bishops who reassigned abusive priests or concealed abuse, according to the AP.
The group, which has an international membership of 19,000, challenged local church leadership to involve laypeople in governing their congregations.
Voice of the Faithful also established an alternative for those who refuse to donate to church-controlled fund appeals, the AP reported. The new fund, to be administered by the National Catholic Charitable Foundation, will support Catholic charities and service programs.
