Heh heh – “Voice” Affiliate Folds

From Catholic League e-mail

Voice Affiliate Folds
The Milwaukee affiliate of Voice of the Faithful is calling it quits. They correctly diagnosed the problem: they lost their way, ticked off conservatives and became a clone of Call to Action. Their last event will be September 26—Father Richard McBrien of Notre Dame has been tapped to preside over the funeral. We expect it won’t be long before the parent group packs it in as well.

Awwwwww…. what a shame.

Do you suppose McBrien will use black vestments?

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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19 Comments

  1. TJM says:

    I’m afraid Father McBrien would wear tie dye “happy” vestments. Thanks for postin this excellent news! Tom

  2. j says:

    The “Parent” organization (or National, since VOTF regularly seems to be in need of parental guidance) recently announced that it, too, would fold if it could not raise its $60,000 / month operating expenses. Unfortunately, it did, and continues, but probably not for long.

  3. Jack Hughes says:

    father father, surely a roman catholc womenpriest should conduct the funeral service instead :)

  4. AndyKl says:

    It’s not a funeral.

    It’s a celebration of life!

  5. RichR says:

    How many new TLMs are popping up around Milwaukee?

    Just curious……

  6. John Enright says:

    Father, he doesn’t even were clericals. Why would he use vestments of any type? I hope that the Holy Spirit gives him the tongue-lashing he very much deserves. Sooner rather than later, because I think he is capable of doing great damage.

    I nevertheless pray for him.

  7. Random Friar says:

    I remind the readers of the feast of St. Jean Vianney and the “First Thursday” coming up this week as an excellent time to pray for priests for a plenary indulgence. There is little slippery slope between a good priest and a bad priest, often.

  8. AndyKl says:

    Rich:
    There was the rumor of one TLM being offered, outside of ICKSP and the SSPX presence.

    Other than that, I’m not sure.

  9. Dismas says:

    I personally would suggest St. Stanislaus, as the Administrator (Auxiliary Bishop Callahan, and hopefully one day Archbishop) would be more likely to observe evidence of a growing TLM community in the Milwaukee Area. Please remember that the most populous demographic of St. Stan’s will have to wait over a decade before they are confirmed, and a few years more before they can start a family of their own.

    As for the rest of the Milwaukee area, I’m afraid many of those who would have been more receptive to such an effort have already fallen away back in the 80’s and 90’s. Seriously, there is only so much “kumbaya” one can listen to and still retain sanity.

    Even so, there is perhaps a possibility of a (albeit slow) TLM explosion amongst the younger (and notably more orthodox) priests, so your prayers for Milwaukee are most appreciated.

  10. EXCHIEF says:

    ANy chance of getting a special requiem Mass authorized for this in the hopes that this will be the first of many? Just asking

  11. Steve Girone says:

    Great news!

  12. btdn says:

    Local Catholic reform group to disband in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is even more fun. It includes quotes from those associated with Support Network for those Abused by Priests and Milwaukee Area Priest Alliance.

    A possible correction to Catholic League’s article: it does not seem that they self-identified their problems.

    Peter Isely, of the local Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests group, said Voice of the Faithful had lost its focus and centrist roots, alienated conservatives and ultimately came to duplicate efforts of the reform group Call to Action.

  13. JohnE says:

    I thought there was supposed to be some big dissident Catholic conference next year in Michigan. Might have to change it to a phone conference. We can hope anyway.

  14. William of the Old says:

    I am only aware of two other TLMs in the archdiocese, besides St. Stanislaus:

    1. Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church, Sheboygan: Mass every fourth Sunday of the month at 3:00pm
    2. St. Peter Catholic Church, Kenosha: Mass every second Sunday of the month at 3:00pm.

    Both of these are served by the ICKSP.

    Please pray for Milwaukee.

  15. MikeM says:

    The thing that’s always disgusted me about VotF is that in my area, they’ve lured in all these old women and told them that they’re trying to build up the Church. A lot of old women who are generally fairly good Catholics were tricked into thinking that VotF was in line with their goals. When I showed one of them what they really stand for, she was horrified.

    But, I’ve been to some events where they bill themselves as something a little different from what they really are.

  16. Seraphic Spouse says:

    I recall VotF wearing green sashes at Mass in Boston to show support for gay priests
    and seminarians. It was a statement against the new guidelines surrounding admitting men with
    homosexual inclinations into the seminary. The green-sashed VofF members
    included centrally-seated extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist, so all through
    Mass I kept being distracted by thoughts of gay priests and seminarians,
    including the ones that had been trained at Boston’s now notorious St. John’s.
    And I also thought of my dear orthodox friend, who had been shocked by openly gay
    seminarians at St. John’s, and who was eventually squeezed out.

    In principle, there is nothing wrong with laypeople hoping for accountability
    from Church leadership. The Catholic blogosphere is crowded with the voices of
    the faithful demanding this and that. But I think we can all agree that Mass is no place for distracting political protests.

  17. irishgirl says:

    Yay! And good riddance!

    Now if only the affiliate in my Upstate NY hometown would just ‘give up the ghost’….

    I agree with you, Andy…it’s not a funeral, but a celebration of life!

  18. Great, the crushing of the serpent’s head has begun.

    I suppose McBrien would wear a black T-shirt with a necktie pattern on it.

  19. lacrossecath says:

    I laughed when I heard this. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel quoted Nancy Moews, who has led the local chapter since 2004 “But there’s no new leadership willing to take it on.” So now that the ’60 are over, where have all the good liberals gone? Retirement??

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