CATHOLIC VOICES is a bureau of Catholic speakers able to articulate with conviction the Church’s positions on major contentious issues in the media.
If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the A-Team CATHOLIC VOICES.
I’m so sorry about the “A-Team” reference, it was either that or Ghost Busters, you know, Who ya gonna call?
You see my Wife’s away in London and I think this may have caused me to be a little aberrant. Well that’s my excuse and I’m sticking with it. I do miss her, she’s only been gone a couple of days but it feels like weeks!
Anyway, CATHOLIC VOICES are a crack team of Catholic communicators who have been trained and prepared for Pope Benedict XVI’s visit in September. Here’s what they say about themselves:
CATHOLIC VOICES is a bureau of Catholic speakers able to articulate with conviction the Church’s positions on major contentious issues in the media. Since its launch in February 2010, the project has been reported in various newspapers and magazines.
Through regular expert briefings and media skills workshops from March to July 2010, a team of Catholics drawn from a broad spectrum of the Church have prepared for Pope Benedict XVI’s visit in September, to make themselves available to the media before and during that time. Catholic Voices on TV and Radio has a summary of media appearances to date.
CATHOLIC VOICES has the blessing of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, but does not speak officially for the Church. Media enquiries seeking official statements should be directed to the Catholic Communications Network.
Contact us if you need a Catholic Voice on your programme.
Unfortunately, today we hear of a rival group via Protect the Pope:
Sister Myra Poole SNDdeN has set up a group of dissenting Catholics who will be available to the media during the state visit to challenge the Holy Father on child abuse, women’s ordination, married priests and homosexuality.
Sister Myra Poole, a supporter of women’s ordination, has established Catholic Voices for Reform to directly counter the official group Catholic Voices, set up with the blessing of the Bishops’ Conference to put the case for the Church.
Sister Myra Poole explained to anti-Catholic newspaper The Guardian, that she set up the group to ‘call for a wholesale transformation of the papacy and the Vatican. It will offer the media a chance to hear the views of Catholics who are “deeply concerned at the present state of the church”‘
The group issued a statement explaining the reasons for their dissent and opposition to the Holy Father:
“These people, women and men, have formed the backbone for the call for the change in the church, some for many years but others more recently. They are its loyal opposition who have remained within the church calling for reform. All our members are people with different experiences who have found a conflict between these experiences and the official teachings of the church.”
Sister Myra Poole went on to explain her attitude towards the official group, Catholic Voices:
‘I’m not frightened of them. They are the official group, they’re very with it, but we’re not daft. We all have experience and know about theology. It’s going to be hard because as the trip gets nearer, we’re going to be up against them.’
The Notre Dame de Namur sister went on to declare that Catholic Voices for Reform will be holding a prayer vigil in central London on the eve of the papal visit and that two letters will be hand-delivered to the residence of the archbishop of Westminster, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols. She explained: ”One will be for the archbishop and the other will be for the pope. We will be asking six very simple questions on reform. We’re working on them now.”
The role of the CATHOLIC VOICES was no walk in the park as it was, let alone being attacked from within as well.
Tags: Church Life, Internet & Technology, Media, News
August 25th, 2010 at 4:09 pm
The Telegraph today reports “The new rules issued by the Vatican puts attempts at ordaining women among the “most serious crimes” alongside paedophilia and will be handled by investigators from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), considered the successor to the Inquisition.”
“Women attempting to be priests, and those who try to ordain them, already faced automatic excommunication but the new decree goes further and enshrines the action as “a crime against sacraments”. ”
And this on top of Africa, Opus Dei, and the protection of paedophile priests… Catholic Voices are going to have their work cut out getting good publicity for this.
“The Vatican: we don’t stone women to death. Yet.”
That could be their slogan.
August 25th, 2010 at 8:02 pm
“…we don’t stone women to death. Yet.” What an absurd and bigoted thing to say!
August 26th, 2010 at 12:52 am
@ Jacqueline: My point was that the Taliban is an even less attractive option for women than the Vatican. At the least the RCC isn’t physically abusive.
But I’ve sometimes wondered if the UK were a theocracy – and the Vatican held absolute power – how long it would take for the stoning to start.