Letter from Hartford VOTF to the Apostolic Nuncio

September 18, 2008

 Most Reverend Pietro Sambi
Apostolic Nuncio to the United States
3339 Massachusetts Avenue
Washington, DC 20008

Dear Archbishop Sambi,

We are writing on behalf of the membership of the Hartford (CT.) Regional Affiliate of Voice of the Faithful which adopted the following resolution on April 6, 2006:

As an affiliate of national Voice of the Faithful, we support and uphold the following resolution passed by the VOTF Representative Council on 9/18/04:

“The Voice of the Faithful hereby resolves that no bishop or other hierarch who, knowing of the sexual abuse of minors by any priest, has failed to remove the priest from any exposure to minors or to take any other effective steps to protect the people of God, or has concealed the risk of abuse presented by such priests from the people to whom such priest was assigned to minister, should be permitted to hold any position of ecclesiastical leadership in the church.”

To that end, the Greater West Hartford (CT.) VOTF calls for the resignation of Cardinal Francis George.

After hearing about the testimony that Cardinal George gave in a recent court proceeding, we are impelled to reiterate our position and make you aware of how seriously the lay members of our Catholic Church take this matter.

We took our original action with regret and sorrow, but with the view that Cardinal George brought this upon himself. As one of the authors of the Charter for the Protection of Children, drafted for the USCCB and adopted by that organization, he should have been aware of its “zero tolerance” provision that any priest credibly accused of sexually abusing a child should be removed from ministry immediately. As the creator of the archdiocesan review commission, he should have followed the advice that the commission gave him to remove Fr. McCormack.

We have heard Cardinal George’s apologies and his acceptance of responsibility for this tragic situation. We have heard of the various plans he has enacted to make sure such things never happen again. We have heard how humiliated he feels to be in this situation. We have heard, in essence, his “mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa”. But there is something missing – the actions that reflect his words of contrition.

In order to restore trust to the position of Bishop in the Catholic Church, in order to restore trust in the leadership of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and their Dallas Charter, in order to restore the trust of Catholics within the Archdiocese of Chicago, and in order to acknowledge the gravity of his lack of action, we strongly urge Cardinal George to resign from his position as Archbishop of Chicago and agree to no longer hold a position of authority within the Catholic Church.

If the Cardinal refuses to step down, then we call upon you to request his resignation. This is what the American Catholic Bishops demand of a priest who is credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor. We believe that this is what Cardinal George needs to do to demonstrate his acceptance of his personal responsibility in this matter.

Sincerely,

Jayne O’Donnell
Dave Blume
Doris Bourque
Bill Carroll
Mary Espinosa
Fay Lenz
Rick Lenz
Joanne Moran

cc: Archbishop Henry Mansell, Archbishop of Hartford
     Bishop Peter Rosazza, Auxiliary Bishop of Hartford
     Bishop Christie Macaluso, Auxiliary Bishop of Hartford