Boston- As bishops gather in San Antonio for the spring meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Voice of the Faithful wonders what they will accomplish. Unfortunately, the agenda for this meeting reflects a lack of leadership that Catholics have come to expect from their bishops. Instead of addressing continued failures of transparency and accountability, the opening of records about clergy abuse and the availability of the sacraments for future generations, the U.S. bishops plan to discuss liturgical translations, marriage, and a liturgy of thanksgiving for human life.

The time to talk about liturgical translations will come, but the leadership needed in the Church today goes far beyond deciding which English word best matches a Latin word inserted centuries ago into the Mass.

Moral leadership begins with addressing continued cover-ups regarding clergy sexual abuse and finding ways to keep our faith communities alive, not closing parishes as an “answer” for declining numbers of celibate diocesan priests. Moral leadership does not fear collaboration with the laity on the many problems facing our Church today.

We pray that the bishops can take steps towards a transformed Church by beginning to address such problems.

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For more information about Voice of the Faithful please email Jessica at votfpr@votf.org or call 781-559-3360

Voice of the Faithful (VOTF) is a lay organization formed in 2002 in response to the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church. It started in the basement of a church in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and has since expanded worldwide with more than 150 Parish Voice affiliates and 30,000 members. The entire organization is committed to helping the Catholic Church.