THE WORST OF times can seem like the best of times, so the adage goes. And that pretty much sums things up for the local Catholic community these days. The sordid scandal of clergy sexual abuse and hierarchy cover-up has so rocked the Archdiocese of Boston that its moral credibility is shattered and its financial health jeopardized. But out of all the anger and pain caused by this crisis has emerged a powerful movement bent on elevating the role of the laity in the Church.

The Voice of the Faithful (VOTF), a group that bills itself as "formed in response to the crisis in the archdiocese and to broader difficulties afflicting the Catholic Church," sprang from modest intentions. When the sex-abuse scandal blew wide open last January, parishioners at St. John the Evangelist Parish, in Wellesley, like many rank-and-file Catholics here, struggled to put emotions into words. They felt confused, betrayed. They felt compelled to speak out against the horror perpetrated, for decades, by their own spiritual leaders. So one Sunday afternoon in late January, 30 parishioners found themselves meeting in the church basement. They listened. They vented. They shed tears. As Svea Fraser, a founding VOTF member, remembers, "We were all struggling with the question, how do we deal with this terrible truth?"

Today, the VOTF has blossomed into a 25,000-strong organization, whose members hail not just from Boston, but from 40 states and 21 countries. In its short, spiraling history, its founders have made enormous strides: they’ve opened an office in Newton; hired an interim executive director; created a Web site (www.votf.org); and drafted a mission statement ("To provide a prayerful voice ... through which the faithful can actively participate in the governance and guidance of the Catholic Church"). Last July, the VOTF held a national convention, to which thousands of lay people flocked. Last September, it followed that milestone with yet another by collecting almost $60,000 dollars to support Church ministries.

Most important, it seems, the VOTF has helped the Catholic community heal. The organization, according to its president, Jim Post, "has stirred up the laity, who were enraged over this scandal but were able to separate it from their faith." The group has given people a much-needed place to grieve. And in the process, it has motivated them to push for change. As member Frank McConville puts it, "You have to walk the walk. We can’t just go to church and sit in the pews."

At a late-October meeting, close to 100 men and women — from seniors to twentysomethings, from Brighton to North Andover — walked the walk. The event was not the standing-room-only drama that characterized the VOTF’s inaugural gathering last spring. But it was forceful nonetheless. They decided, for instance, to convene weekly "working group" sessions on various organizational issues. And in one session, 12 newcomers sat in a circle and relayed their feelings about the crisis. One woman identified herself as a long-time parishioner of St. Julia’s Parish, in Weston, where the notorious John Geoghan and Paul Shanley had served as priests. The scandal, she explained, her voice hushed, "has been a nightmare. I’m so angry I don’t know what to do." Her husband offered up his opinion ("I just love my Church"), but then stopped. His eyes watered as he turned away. VOTF members listened to each newcomer express him- or herself. Then they offered advice: think about what you can do to help and act.

The VOTF has taken a decidedly centrist posture; indeed, members stress that they’re not interested in changing Catholic doctrine. All they want is for lay people to have a voice. Despite this benign (and noble) goal, Bernard Cardinal Law has refused to accept the donations that the VOTF has accepted from lay people unwilling, for now, to give directly to the Church. The archdiocese’s official newspaper, the Pilot, has attacked the group’s motives as "anti-Catholic," as having a "hidden agenda" to change the Church. Some VOTF chapters have even been banned from using their parishes for meetings.

Still, the VOTF presses forward. Its members continue to reach out to Law and his bishops, to alienated lay people, and to demoralized, yet decent priests. These are the actions that make VOTF truly special. Members, as Post notes, "aren’t going to abandon the Church." They are, simply put, the best that’s come out of the archdiocese in months.