Voice of the Faithful

of Greater Philadelphia

 

P.O. Box 4397, Philadelphia, PA 19118-8397

 

 

October 28, 2005

 

 

Cardinal Justin Francis Rigali

Archdiocese of Philadelphia

222 N. 17^th Street  

Philadelphia, PA 19103

 

Dear Cardinal Rigali:

 

On Saturday, Nov. 5, Voice of the Faithful will hold a prayer vigil in front of your mansion on City Avenue. We take this extraordinary step for three reasons: first, to express our profound disappointment about your response to the recent Grand Jury report on clerical sex abuse and high-level cover-ups; second, to call upon you to do what is needed to address this crisis in a true spirit of penance, and, third, to pray and commit ourselves to work for the reform and renewal of the Church we love.

 

The Grand Jury report describes the horrifying, immoral and criminal clerical sexual abuse of our children. It sets forth the equally immoral, decades-long cover-up of abuse by top Archdiocesan leaders. Your office attacked the report immediately with a 69-page response, rather than accept its carefully documented, incontrovertible message. Your lawyer went even further, describing the report as a “vile diatribe” and anti-Catholic.

 

Your October letter from Rome admits that “some priests” did “evil,” but it continues to insist that Archdiocesan leaders only made “mistakes and errors in judgment.” We do not doubt that Cardinals Krol and Bevilacqua did good things as leaders of the Archdiocese. Their behavior in this instance, however, was at least as immoral and reprehensible as the abuse itself, since it allowed mentally and morally ill clergy, who could have been stopped, to inflict even more suffering on our children. You not only minimized their role and responsibility, but said nothing about administrators who helped them hide abuse, some of whom still hold responsible positions in the Archdiocese. This would suggest that you have not yet comprehended the depth of the crisis nor are willing to take the necessary steps to address it adequately.

 

The same letter called for prayer, penance and reparations. We agree that all of us need these; all of us are sinners needing repentance and forgiveness. But penance and reparation require positive acts of amendment, not simply traditional devotions like the holy hours for which you call. They require acts that address the evil and show a real change of heart. We call on you to “bear fruits worthy of repentance” (Luke 3:8) by taking steps such as the following. (If you wish to meet with us to discuss these steps, know that we would be happy to do so.)

 

1.  Announce immediately that you will support needed changes in state laws, such as those urged by the Grand Jury, that will protect our children now and in the future from clerical sex abuse and hold accountable those who enable or tolerate such abuse. Urge the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference and your brother bishops to do the same.