New Hampshire Voice of the Faithful
PO Box 423
Concord NH 03302-0423
NH Voice of the Faithful calls on Bishops John
B. McCormack
and Francis J. Christian to resign
PENACOOK, NH, APRIL 6, 2003 - New Hampshire Voice
of the Faithful (NH-VOTF) today called on Bishop John B. McCormack
and Auxiliary Bishop Francis J. Christian to resign their positions
as bishops of the Diocese of Manchester, NH. The two-thirds vote
by the group’s steering committee included representatives from
nine affiliates across the state. NH-VOTF has approximately 600
members in New Hampshire.
The call for resignations follows patient discernment
by members of the record of Bishop McCormack in Massachusetts
and New Hampshire and the record of Bishop Christian in New Hampshire.
“Both observed a general disregard for the testimony of sexual
abuse victims and an unwillingness to remove predatory priests
from contact with children,” said Jeffrey Blanchard, NH-VOTF steering
committee chairman.
The New Hampshire Attorney General compiled a report
that charges willful blindness, flagrant indifference and a conscious
course of ignorance on the part of the Diocese in its handling
of allegations. The pattern of clerical arrogance, secrecy, and
administrative abuse of power to the dangers priests posed to
children is well proven. As a result, Bishops McCormack and Christian
cannot command widespread respect, leaving the Diocese without
effective pastoral leadership.
A spiritual and moral crisis is evident from the
many voices that have already spoken in disparate ways:
- Families request
that the bishops not come to their parishes for the sacrament
of confirmation,
- Faithful churchgoers
have stopped attending Mass,
- Contributions
are down significantly, with many programs cut,
- Priests have
shared their pain in homilies and public statements,
- Polls, silent
vigils and vocal demonstrations reveal a lack of trust in
the Bishops.
It is self-evident that healing cannot take place
and the successful daily operations of the Diocese be restored
without the removal of current leaders. “We as laity have both
the right and obligation under Vatican II and canon law to make
our concerns known, which we are doing today in letters to Pope
John Paul II and Bishop Wilton D. Gregory of the USCCB,” said
Blanchard.
There is ample precedent in Catholic tradition
for bishops who mishandled allegations to resign. Five bishops
from Australia, Canada, Ireland, Wales and the United States have
done so in the last ten years. These precedents set a graced example
of bishops called to resign in a spirit of accountability and
justice.
NH-VOTF commends the courage and strength of survivors,
without whom the faithful would be ignorant of what was done in
the name of their beloved Church. Catholics embrace the men and
women whose tenacity in the face of unimaginable pain exposed
the criminal conduct of sexual abuse. It likewise supports the
great majority of priests who labor under the painful burden of
betrayal by bishops past and present. Survivors reserve their
greatest anger, not for their abusers, but for the revictimization
they endured by the episcopacy.
