BELFAST – The priest at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church will work with parishioners to explore the formation of a chapter of a lay group working for change in the church, despite the cool reception the organization received from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland.

The Rev. Costanzo “Chris” Piselli was one of nearly 70 people – and the only priest – to attend the state’s first organizational meeting of the Boston-based Voice of the Faithful held Wednesday in a Portland public school.

Founded in response to revelations about sexual abuse by priests and coverups by their superiors, the group supports more control of church affairs by lay Catholics and less authority for bishops and priests.

“The churches are not the hierarchy or the cardinal,” Piselli said Wednesday night in Portland. “The church is you, the people.”

The priest said that in the early 1990s, two priests were removed from St. Francis. The Rev. Christopher Roy left during Holy Week 1993 after the bishop learned he had a sexual relationship with an adult male parishioner. Their next pastor, the Rev. Marcel Robitaille, was removed after less than six months on the job when he was accused of sexually abusing his three brothers and a nephew.

Roy has since left the priesthood. Robitaille is inactive and listed in the diocesan directory as living at the Cathedral Residence in Portland.

Piselli said Thursday that since being assigned to St. Francis in 1996, he has had to help the congregation heal and to allay their fears. The priest said the parish seems to have come to grips with the past, but he senses that many need to talk about the current crisis. VOTF might be the vehicle that allows them to do that.

“I think that what’s good about the whole thing is that it gives people a forum to vent their frustrations, sorrow and fears. I think the more we talk about it, whether it’s as VOTF or just as a congregation, people have to be heard,” he said Thursday.

“I thought the meeting [in Portland] was a wonderful show of the vibrancy of church,” he continued. “People are not trying to usurp the bishop’s authority, but lay people want to help him so that as a church we never let this happen again.”

Piselli told the group Wednesday night that there are three victims in the current crisis – people who have been sexually abused by priests, the priests who perpetrated the abuse and who are victims of the disease that caused them to inflict abuse on children, and the priests who have lived celibate lives and faithfully served the church and the diocese.

“Priests are the third victim of this crisis. I’m here to speak for them,” he said. “I can assure you that there are thousands of priests out there who are hurting very, very much and they’re innocent.

“After Mass, people will often put their hand on my should and ask, ‘How are you doing, Father?’ You have no idea how much that helps. We are overwhelmed. We cannot believe this has happened.”

Three priests have been removed from Maine churches in St. Agatha, Madawaska and Ellsworth since February for alleged sexual abuse of minors. Prosecutors revealed earlier this week that 33 living but inactive priests and other clergy members are the subject of child sex abuse allegations. Within that group, 25 were priests under the direct supervision of Bishop Joseph J. Gerry.

VOTF’s goals are to support those who have been abused, to support priests of integrity and to shape structural change within the church. How the group will accomplish those goals has not yet been determined, according to organizers. The group’s motto is “Keep the Faith, Change the Church.”

Initially, Gerry gave the group permission to meet at a Portland-area Catholic school or church, then reneged on the offer, according to Michael Sweatt, 44, one of three Cumberland County Catholics working to organize VOTF chapters in Maine.

Sue Bernard, spokeswoman for the diocese, attended the meeting and took detailed notes as more than a dozen lay people, some of whom said they were survivors of sexual assault, spoke about their reactions to the scandal.

She said Thursday that while the bishop does not oppose the organization, he is taking a wait-and-see attitude until details emerge about how it wants to change the structure of the church. She said Gerry was reluctant to allow meetings on diocesan-owned property because there were too few specifics available about VOTF’s goals.

Bernard said the bishop had placed no restrictions on individual priests such as Piselli or their congregations from seeking information about the organization. For now, Maine’s Catholics are free to discuss VOTF and its goals in individual parishes with their pastors’ support.

Wayne Kennard of Old Orchard Beach said Wednesday he was converted to Catholicism as a child in Presque Isle. As an adult, he attended St. John’s Catholic Church in Bangor before moving to southern Maine.

“For me, this is a social justice issue,” he said. “The diocese’s response to reports of sexual abuse by priests has been less than satisfactory and leaves me asking ‘What kind of an institution do I belong to?’

“I’m a Catholic by conversion and former Protestant,” he added. “This [VOTF] is a new reformation.”

For more information on Voice of the Faithful, visit their Web site at www.voiceofthefaithful.org.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.