The Suffering of Our Church Who Oppresses

I attended a meeting of pre-VOTF today. Some RC parishioners in Lexington, where the Bishop has his cathedral are so upset they have begun to explore establishing a VOTF chapter. They want to see what actions they may take to force transparency in the Catholic parishes including the diocese itself.

They are looking at possibly forming a VOTF chapter or a least using their resources to attack the problem itself. Four of us met today because some had thought there was a Federal law that requires transparency from non-profits. Doing the research, KY opted out of having its non-profits comply. So we cannot use Federal law to gather the data folks would like to have.

I argued for Call To Action to make a presentation on their resources for parishes and after the meeting I sent Bob Heineman an email asking for such resources or even a visit from him to discuss options with the group. I don't know what he can do if anything but I thought I would give it a try. I like CTA because they are action-oriented.

During the meeting a member began to share confidential stories of the suffering caused by this church especially for gay priests. We were all in shell-shock by the time she ended. The injustice is so great I was speechless and very angry. "We must walk with the priest. We must tell him what we are doing and why. If necessary we must support him financially. Stand with our priests against oppression and injustice."

We were winding down the meeting and I felt called to prayer. We held hands, "Dear Loving Wisdom, Send your wisdom upon us. Provide your guidance that we might choose to do the work of justice. May we stand with those who are hurting." By this time I began to cry, no weep is the word. I had said earlier, "We are at the foot of the cross. We must offer Jesus who suffers all we can do to ease his pain. A cup of water for those who suffer." We must be strong and make the decisions for justice.

I have another quandary. The RCWP who was here was very vocal about being a priest. I do not want to repeat her behavior as it is not about my priesthood but the Way of Jesus. Yet these discussions are so intense I feel I must let the members know as we are speaking of transparency and I feel I am not being transparent with them.