We wish Carole and Leo Rogers, Peg and Bob Pipchick and Juanita and Charlie Saco very Happy 50th Wedding Anniversaries!

We wish Mike and Teri Corso many blessings in their new home!

We pray for Bunny Mondare who is now in hospice.

We pray for the continued recovery of Tom Hoffman, Gerry Gannon and Pat Franks.

VOTFNJ member, Carol Jenkins, Is one of the curators of the West Orange Arts Council exhibit, Black Lives Matter: For Justice,For Equality, For Liberty!. The Black Lives Matter virtual online exhibit debuted on June 5, 2021 on the West Orange Arts Council website and will be open for in-person timed-entry visits at the West Orange Arts Center, 551 Valley Road in West Orange, New Jersey through July 31, 2021. A reception will be held on Saturday, June 19, 2021 from 4pm – 7pm. Learn more and more.

Africa Surgery is supported by VOTFNJ member, Bernice Anglin. See its currrent newsletter here.

VOTFNJ member Pat Franks supports the Haiti Solidarity Network of the North East. Carole and Leo Rogers direct our attention to the St. Luke Foundation for Haiti.

Please email if you wish to include prayers or share news events.

The VOTFNJ Coordinating Team has compiled a resource list on the subject of systemic racism, offering theological readings as well as historical and political perspectives. Download it here.

Dr. Shannen Dee Williams will give a presentation to VOTFNJ on Zoom at 4:30 pm on Sunday, Nov. 21, 2021.

Dr. Williams is the Albert LePage Assistant Professor of History at Villanova University. She is completing her first book, Subversive Habits: The Untold Story of Black Catholic Nuns in the United States. 

Voices for Racial Justice Now is committed to advancing a vision of America free from the racism that has denied millions of Americans their fundamental rights and equal access to the American dream. Learn more on their website.

In these extraordinary times, the world needs courageous leadership. That is what the International Rescue Committee was founded to provide.

VOTFNJ is a founding member and supporter of Refugee Assistance Morris Partners. RAMP is proud of its work sponsoring refugee families from the Middle East since its founding in 2016 thanks to the ongoing support of its deeply dedicated volunteers, faith-based organizations, and generous donors. The first two families are now independent, and are no longer relying on RAMP for their support. Click here for the latest update. Click here for a Migrant and Refugee Fact Sheet from "Education for Justice." Ramp partners with the International Rescue Committee (IRC). IRC showcases the top 10 crises the world should be watching in 2021 RAMP continues to work with IRC in its current mission of refugee resettlement.

The RAMP Coordinating Committee annouces new committees to work on housing and employment for refugees and welcomes Rev. Anne Thatcher, Rector of St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Morristown, as RAMP's new Clergy Convener. It is hoped that the Biden Administration's new proposals for accepting refugees into the US will soon be inacted and RAMP will be able to help more families.

If you would like to join this multi-faith and civic effort, go to the RAMP website and check for all the opportunities available. Contact: [email protected] for more information and updates.

RAMP is a Special Project Fund of the Community Foundation of New Jersey. CFNJ manages and administers RAMP funds, and donations made to RAMP through CFNJ qualify for 501(c)3 status. Donations can be made here.

From Princes to Managers: Understanding the history of the Catholic episcopate, by Massimo Faggioli

Surviving abuse in all its forms. Keep up with coverage in VOTF National, America, NCR, Commonweal, and Crux.

We recommend reading Fr. Ken Lasch's posts on his website; keeping up with all the news and events at Road to Recovery and Catholic Whistleblowers; and visiting the Catholics4Change website, the Bishop Accountability website; and the Catholic Church Reform International website.

 Active Investigations and Information Hotlines

NY Victims and Anyone with Information are Encouraged to Call Hotline at 1-800-771-7755 or File Complaint Online at ag.ny.gov/ClergyAbuse

Keep up with the activities and outreach of Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA) and Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

VOTFNJ has developed an Action Packet of useful steps you can take to confront the abuse crisis in our Church.

As an insider of the Roman Catholic hierarchy, Thomas Doyle became an invaluable source of knowledge for survivors. Father Thomas Doyle grasped the extent of the abuse scandal in the USA early on. He acted quickly, meticulously and did not allow himself to be deterred. Learn more.

Pope Francis’s vision of synodality by Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin

Reforming the Vatican Curia: Never easy, and never over by Thomas Reese, SJ

Whose synodality? Social alliances and institutional models in global Catholicism:

FutureChurch Pentecost Series:

Four-week series held on Wednesday evenings

Begins Wednesday, May 26, 2021 thru June 16, 2021 at 7:00pm ET

New canon on women's ordination nothing new, can be changed by Phyllis Zagano

Synodal church 'fundamental' to Pope's vision: Sr Patricia Murray, secretary of the International Union of Superiors General, notes that women are taking up significant roles.

WATER is a non-profit educational center and public charity in Silver Spring, MD, USA, that focuses on feminist work in religion. Since our founding in 1983, WATER has built a growing network of scholars, ministers, and activists around the world who are committed to engaging theological training and scholarship in the service of social change. We promote empowerment, justice, peace, and systemic change. Learn more.

The church's complicity in dehumanizing the LGBTQ community in Ghana by Fr. Daniel P. Horan, OFM