Voice of the Faithful® was the major sponsor of the first two stops, July 16 and 17, on reformist Austrian priest Fr. Helmut Schuller’s 15-city U.S. speaking tour this summer, “Catholic Tipping Point: Conversations with Fr. Helmut Schuller.” Here is are a couple of early news stories about his talk:
Fr. Helmut Schuller Kicks Off ‘Catholic Tipping Point’ Tour
Fr. Helmut Schüller should be on summer vacation right now. Instead, the Austrian priest, who gained international attention in 2011 for his “Call to Disobedience,” has chosen to spend his time off from parish ministry offering a presentation titled “The Catholic Tipping Point: Conversations” in 15 U.S. cities. The tour kicked off Tuesday night at Manhattan’s Judson Memorial Church, a historic community in Greenwich Village with affiliations to the United Church of Christ and the American Baptist Church.” By Jamie Manson, National Catholic Reporter
Read Jamie Manson’s entire article by clicking here.
Priest Says Grouping Parishes Will Weaken Church
An Austrian priest who advocates ordination of women and married men, a position that led Boston church leaders to bar him from speaking at a local parish, said Wednesday that plans like the one Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley has put forward to group parishes and priests into clusters weaken the church rather than strengthen it. The Rev. Helmut Schuller, who has long been concerned about how power is concentrated at the top echelons of the church hierarchy, is organizing a major priests’ movement in Austria that grew out of priests’ opposition to parish closings and restructuring plans that require clergy to minister to multiple churches. He argues that expanding the priesthood is a better answer than clustering plans that spread priests too thin, undermining their relationships with parishioners. By Lisa Wangsness, The Boston Globe
Read Lisa Wangsness’ entire article by clicking here.
Hundreds Pack Unitarian Church to Hear Reformist Catholic Priest
Hundreds of people, most of them Catholic, turned out Wednesday night in Dedham to hear a Catholic priest — a reformist — from Austria. The Rev. Helmut Schuller was scheduled to speak at St. Susanna Parish in Dedham, but was barred by Cardinal Sean O’Malley due to his positions on several issues which run contrary to official Catholic church doctrine. So the meeting was moved to a Unitarian church. By Fred Thys, WBUR-FM
Listen to Fred Thys’ entire story by clicking here.
Voice of the Faithful® and nine other Roman Catholic Church reform organizations have formed a coalition to support Fr. Schuller’s tour.
Voice of the Faithful ® 
#1 by Patricia Gomez on July 19, 2013 - 9:22 AM
The Boston Globe report on Helmut Schuller’s US-tour stop in Boston also includes quotes from the Boston Archdiocesan spokesperson. Schuller certainly knows about parishes and diocesan workings in the Austrian Catholic church from his work within the Viennese Archdiocese and Caritas Austria. He certainly cannot be expected to know details of diocesan/parish reconfigurations in the US. For the Archdiocesan spoksperson to criticize Schuller’s understanding of the Boston Archdiocesan plan demonstrates a pale PR effort to discredit a truly prophetic and reform-minded priest. Schuller points out that church structures should take into account the principle of communio when looking at the “vibrancy” of parishes and before reconfiguring parish boundaries, and not base reconfiguration on the availablity of an ordained person to head that parish. He promotes lay-led parishes when no priest is available to lead, thus acknowledging the rights of citizens of the Catholic church and the rights of a community formed by membership in a Catholic worshipping group.
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