Whose afraid of the big bad parishioner????

You might be surprised........I was.

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The Catholic Patriot Act

Big Brother to tape Edwina Gately

Embracing a faithful calling

From the VOTF conference in 2005. This sums up so well why anyone who loves their Catholic faith might feel called to speak up for their parishes. For those who think that those of us who speak up do so out of a desire for power or hostility toward Catholic faith, I ask that you seriously consider this perspective. Perhaps the ability of the Catholic Church to do good is compromised by the actions her leadership........and should this happen, than those who love the Church and the faith may find that they have no choice but to become faithful adults, and do what an adult must do. To get full copies of all video from this conference, please go to
Resurrection Tapes

United Parishes announces the intention to hold their 2nd annual Conference this Fall

What should we do when our thriving parish communities are closed without any consideration for the community and their will to have church?

What should we do when we are shut out from decisions about dangerous people being given access to our children without our knowledge?

What should we do when the pledges that we send to the Church in good faith that they will support good causes are used to do more harm than good? What should we do when we object to this practice and are told that our suggestions will be “considered.”?

What should we do when our children are being hurt by people that they are supposed to trust, and the people who have the authority and responsibility to do something about it do nothing?

Click below for the answer:



This clip, from United Parishes 1st annual Fall Conference in 2006 may be brief, but it doesn’t need to be one second longer to answer the questions above. This conference featured a panel of the most powerful speakers assembled in our area to address these issues and others in our church.

The panel included:

Kris Ward; VOTF Leader

Claudia Vercellotti, SNAP Leader

Emily Holtel-Hoag, Future Church Representative

Tony Comes, abuse survivor and subject of the highly acclaimed documentary: ‘Twist of Faith’

Dan Thiel, United Parishes President



The second annual Conference is now being planned. Updates will be posted at www.unitedparishesohio.org. Bookmark the page to check back for the latest.

Mt. Carmel sit in

A scene from the documentary "Closed On Sundays" that features an effort to save a parish in Boston from closure.

Voice From The Desert Roundup

Tighter internal financial controls needed:
http://voicefromthedesert.blogspot.com/2007/03/tighter-internal-financial-controls.html

A Proposal For Civil Law to Reform Parishes
http://voicefromthedesert.blogspot.com/2007/03/proposal-for-civil-law-to-reform.html

A new movement

Click the link to find out more. It is called Take Back Our Church.

http://www.takebackourchurch.org/

More from NYC

"What happened here is exactly what the Soviets use to resort to. It was an underhanded thing to do," said Darius Laucius, 39.
..............

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A Priest with integrity stands up and then........retires?

Priest who criticized bishop over parish shift is retiring

............

Claudia Vercellotti, local co-coordinator of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said it was ironic that at a time when the Catholic Church is experiencing a priest shortage, the bishop is forcing into retirement a highly regarded priest who wants to stay in active ministry.

"We can't get priests who molest kids out of there fast enough. But when a priest with integrity stands up for what's right, he's expedited out the back door," Ms. Vercellotti said. "This sends a message to other priests to intimidate them from speaking out."

A church community is locked out

United Parishes will be present at a candle light prayer vigil on Tuesday, March 6th to commemorate this event from one year ago.

Vigil at Our Lady of Vilnius Church, NYC 2/26/07

This event took place recently in New York, and demonstrates that this method transcends diocesan boundaries. A video from the even that took place at St. James one year ago will be posted next.........

Welcome to United Parishes

This blog will allow members of United Parishes to post notices, news, and commentary. We welcome input and discussion.

Thanks,
Steve