BOSTON (AP) — A lay Catholic group founded in the worst days of the church's clergy sex abuse scandal said Monday it may be forced to cease operations because of a downturn in donations.
Leaders of Voice of the Faithful sent out a fundraising letter Monday to members saying it is "at the crossroads of financial survival" and needs $60,000 by the end of this month.
Bill Casey, chairman of the group's board of trustees, said Voice of the Faithful has been hit hard by the economic downturn and is making an "emergency appeal" for donations. The group is based in the Boston suburb of Needham.
"Our revenue has been dropping. We've made significant reductions in our operating expenses. We've cut salaries, we have cut contracts," Casey said.
"But I think for us, the killer has been the inability of people to continue to contribute because of the economic crisis."
This, in my not-so-humble opinion, is a crock. The group never was a "voice of the faithful." The group was—and the emphasis is on was—a bunch of dissidents (with, admittedly, some people sincerely distressed by the scandal...who pretty much left the organization within a year or so of its inception) who used the scandal to try to push "reform" in the Catholic Church in America. You don't have to take my word for it. Somewhere in the bowels of my computer is the slide show that outlines the whole sorry plan.
Wait, I just remembered something. 'Way back in 2002, I wrote about the group here.
Bye, bye, VOTF. You're not even history...you're gone.
