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
|
