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Originally Posted by tw
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Justification for this war was apparent earlier. Voices of the Faithful called for the Church to respond to their parishioner’s expectations. VoF was created because the Church was all but endorsing pedophilia. VoF was, in essence, calling for a church "Magna Carta". So, in 2002, bishops in Oregon, Maine, Camden NJ, Newark, N.J., and Long Island banned Voices of the Faithful from church properties after 25 parishioners in Wellesley MA had a meeting about widespread pedophilia in their Archdiocese. This over response demonstrated how entrenched and disenfranchised Church leadership has become.
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It seems to me things are a bit more complicated, at least regarding Oregon's Archbishop John George Vlazny.
On one side, he came to Oregon in 1997, and by 2004 had settled a number of sexual abuse within the Archdiocese.
To wit he announced in 2007:
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“For more than seven years the Archdiocese of Portland has been confronted with claims of child abuse by some of our priests, mostly between 1940 and 1986. By July 6, 2004, we had reached settlements with 140 victims. But on that day we filed for Chapter 11 protection in federal bankruptcy court in order to be able to continue the mission of the church and make an honest effort to compensate all remaining victims as fairly as possible. These have been difficult days for all of us and I am grateful to all our people who have continued to support the mission of the church and collaborate in the effort to resolve this crisis.”
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On the other side, he vigorously opposed Oregon's law which provides for assisted suicide, and made his position very public:
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During the 2004 presidential election, Vlazny said Catholic politicians who supported abortion rights, like Democratic nominee John Kerry, should refrain from receiving Communion.
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Vlazny's position was very divisive among the Oregon Catholics and the general public.
Archbishop Vlazny resigned in January 2013, being succeeded by Bishop Alexander Sample.