COMMENT OF JAMES E. POST, PRESIDENT, VOICE OF THE FAITHFUL NOVEMBER 10, 2003

Today, Bishop Wilton C. Gregory sounded an important call to all Catholics in the United States. In his presidential address to the members of the USCCB, entitled "The Life of the Church as Communio: Let Us Embrace Again This Gift of God," Bishop Gregory acknowledges a fact that is obvious to all U. S. Catholics: The "communio" has been ripped apart by the clergy sexual abuse crisis.

I agree with Bishop Gregory, that it is time to heal the Church. Voice of the Faithful has been seeking to do this since its inception over a year and a half ago. We feel that this can only be accomplished when all Catholics -laity, clergy, bishops -- embrace survivors of sexual abuse as the "face of Christ," resolve to learn lessons from this tragedy of abuse, and incorporate these lessons into the "living Church" of the 21st century.

To bishops who have banned faithful Catholics from their churches, we say, "open your ears and your hearts to the call of concerned people who seek justice." Do not divide your community - heal it, unify it, bring it together. To those priests who have supported us, and to those bishops who have taken the time to educate themselves about our goals, we ask you to continue to help us heal this Church. This is a time for the bishops to open their hearts and minds to the possibilities that exist among the people of this great nation. We are a people who love the Catholic Church and who cherish highly the ideals of freedom, democracy, and gospel values. It is time to end the hostility and to repair God's Church.

We wish you grace in the days ahead.