Saturday, August 15, 2009

Autistic Lindenhurst teen's body found in Catskills lake

The above article from Newsday refers to Ryan Barrett, son of MaryEllen Barrett, blogger at Tales From the Bonny Blue House and columnist for The Long Island Catholic drowned. May he rest in peace, and please pray for the Barrett family.

Sunday, August 09, 2009

Voice of the Faithful Milwaukee folds

"The Milwaukee affiliate of Voice of the Faithful, a national Catholic reform group founded in response to the clergy sex abuse scandal, is preparing to fold in September, saying it has been unable to attract new leaders to advance the organization.
The decision comes as the national organization, bolstered in recent days by an emergency infusion of cash, prepares to unveil a blueprint that will place a greater emphasis on political activism."


The most accurate and interesting statement from this article is this (emphasis mine):

"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.

"If they would have focused exclusively on the abuse issue . . . including financial issues and matters, where I think they could have been really useful, they might have made it," Isely said in an e-mail to the Journal Sentinel."