Voice of the Faithful facing financial, membership crises
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (CNS) --- Voice of the Faithful, the church reform movement begun in 2002 in reaction to the nationwide clergy abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, is now in a financial and organizational crisis, according to a report recently posted on its Web site. Twenty-two people, including officers of Voice of the Faithful and members of its National Representative Council from across the United States, met in the Boston area April 27-29 for its semi-annual gathering. Among the attendees were Bill Casey, who chairs the organization's board of trustees, and Mark Mullaney, interim executive director. According to an account of the meeting posted on the organization's Web site at www.votf.org, "Both Bill Casey and Mark Mullaney described the financial shortfall VOTF will face in the coming months. Although the number of individual contributors has increased, in the past year or so the number of major donors has declined. VOTF must reverse this trend to erase a projected $100,000 deficit in the next fiscal year."
Going green: Vatican expands mission to saving planet, not just souls
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- Expanding its mission from saving souls to saving the planet, the Vatican is going green. A giant rooftop garden of solar panels will be built next year on top of the Paul VI audience hall, creating enough electricity to heat, cool and light the entire building year-round. "Solar energy will provide all the energy (the building) needs," said the mastermind behind the environmentally friendly project, Pier Carlo Cuscianna, head of the Vatican's department of technical services. And that is only the beginning. Cuscianna told Catholic News Service May 24 that he had in mind other sites throughout Vatican City where solar panels could be installed, but that it was too early in the game to name names. Even though Vatican City State is not a signatory of the Kyoto Protocol, a binding international environmental pact to cut greenhouse gases, its inaugural solar project marks a major move in trying to reduce its own so-called carbon footprint, that is, the amount of carbon dioxide released through burning fossil fuels. The solar panels will be installed sometime in 2008 after prototypes, environmental impact reports and other studies have been completed, Cuscianna said.
Mexico's ex-president seeks exoneration for 1993 murder of cardinal
GUADALAJARA, Mexico (CNS) --- In an effort to rehabilitate his tarnished reputation, former Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari is petitioning the Mexican government and senior Catholic officials to discharge him from any responsibility for the 1993 murder of Guadalajara Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo, reported Excelsior, a Mexico City newspaper. The Excelsior story ran May 24, the 14th anniversary of the cardinal's violent death. It was based on copies of reports it said were dated Oct. 16, 2006, and May 2007 that "are only circulating at the highest levels of the Catholic hierarchy" and were prepared for the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. Jose Ortega Sanchez, a lawyer for Guadalajara Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iniguez, confirmed for Catholic News Service that the reports obtained by Excelsior were authentic. He told the newspaper, "The Vatican's intention for requesting this information is to know the status of the investigation." He added that Salinas would like a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI and is looking for a third party to mediate --- possibly Cardinal Sandoval. |