An Open Letter to Archbishop Sean O’Malley

November 18, 2004

Most Reverend Sean Patrick O’Malley, OFM Cap
Archbishop of Boston
2121 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts 02135-3193

Dear Archbishop O’Malley,

We are saddened to read about the heavy toll the reconfiguration process is taking on you personally. Be assured our prayers are with you. The seeds of this crisis were sown many years ago and cannot be quickly or easily solved. Once again, we volunteer our experience to assist in this process.

We are heartened to see that you have acknowledged the need for lay Catholics to have a better understanding of the financial situation of the archdiocese. We appreciate that you have provided new information about the financial problems facing the archdiocese with regard to the information related to the pension liability. This latest disclosure raises many additional questions about the financial health of the archdiocese that must be answered. The truth is that lay women and men do not have a clear picture about this archdiocese’s financial health – and they will only do so when the archdiocese makes their finances publicly available. Nevertheless, we are encouraged to see your willingness to move toward greater financial transparency and believe this is an important first step toward developing a shared responsibility between the laity and the hierarchy for the future of the Archdiocese of Boston.

It is important, however, to remember why donations to the Archdiocese have declined. At its core, the lack of transparency and accountability has caused many lay Catholics to lose confidence in the Church’s leadership. Many Catholics simply do not want to contribute to the Catholic Church because the spiritual leaders have not held themselves accountable for covering up the sexual abuse of children. While Cardinal Law resigned, many other bishops who behaved as he did remain in place. As Voice of the Faithful reiterated this week at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, accountability from the Bishops for the role they played in exacerbating this crisis is a necessity to regain trust. Will you have the courage to hold your brother bishops accountable?

The shortage of priests, the downturn of practicing Catholics, and the lack of involvement of our youth have been known for years. This is an opportunity to involve the laity in answering “why?” and in creating plans to solve these problems. A shared responsibility to find the answers would strengthen the faith of all participants while fortifying the whole community. We are ready and able to be a part of finding those answers, in examining the problems with a clear and reasoned voice, and to find solutions in the spirit of collaboration inside the universal Church.

The reasons for the current condition of the Archdiocese need to be brought out in the open and addressed in a clear and candid manner. Only then can we all reestablish trust and heal the archdiocese and our broader Church.

With greater transparency comes the opportunity for the laity and the hierarchy to work together at many levels -- not just within an Archdiocesan Finance Committee -- to develop plans for the future of the Archdiocese of Boston. While we continue to believe that the process of reconfiguration was seriously flawed -- in part because of the absence of all financial information regarding the archdiocese of Boston, including your recent revelations about pensions -- the members of Voice of the Faithful stand ready to offer our many talents to work with you and archdiocesan officials to return the Archdiocese to fiscal and spiritual health. Only in that way can we heal the Church that we both love and to which we remain committed. We sympathize with the hardship you have experienced and appreciate the candor with which you have shared it with the archdiocese; by sharing responsibility, we believe that the daunting problems that confront us both can be solved by finding ways to mutually utilize the understanding and expertise that lay Catholics can bring to truly repair our Church.

With prayerful concern,

Steering Committee
Boston Area Voice of the Faithful Council