ASSOCIATION FOR THE RIGHTS OF CATHOLICS IN THE CHURCH
Dear Brother Bishops,
Thank you for trying. For better or for worse, you
are our bishops and we are your people. We would like
to share with you some of the serious concerns that we
have with your leadership. It is all about trust.
Below are some of the questions we are asking
ourselves and each other. We share them with you in
case you would like to know.
1. Would it be at all prudent of us to trust the
guidance of bishops who place the loyalty and welfare
of an organization over the welfare and security of
our children?
2. Is it logical to seek advice and guidance about our
sexual issues from bishops who have no academic
training in sexuality, are not married not even once
(1 Tim.3:2), who have renounced sexual pleasure, and
shun all sexual relations?
3. Isn't it unreasonable for us to rely on bishops to
work for the locally identified common good who are
unknown to us, who come from another community, who
were forced upon us by a secret process, and who have
committed loyalties to yet a more distant human
authority.
4. Are we justified in continuing to contribute to any
cause led by bishops who are not accountable, nor
open, and who maintain absolute control over all
assets and contributions past, present, and future
under the guise of stewardship?
5. Can we reasonably trust bishops who, in one way or
another, tried to manipulate our conscience to vote
for George W. Bush?
6. What answer can we give to our God if we entrust
the formation of our conscience to bishops who claim
to teach absolute truth of faith and morals but who
have not demonstrated their integration of new
knowledge and understanding of cosmology,
anthropology, biology, medicine, psychology,
sociology, history, scripture, and reality in general
acquired over the past century?
7. Can we have confidence in bishops who are complicit
by their silence as brother bishops attempt to
persecute and excommunicate their people?
8. How confident can we be in bishops who insist on
secrecy, have secret advisors, cover up the truth,
protect the guilty, all in the name of protecting the
image of the Church?
9. Does it make sense to trust bishops who do not
acknowledge that God speaks through the people of the
Church, who do not know the "sensus fidelium" of their
people, nor speak in their behalf for fear that Rome
may not approve and may block their career paths?
10. Might we question the commitment of our bishops
who refuse to provide priests for us in deference to
man made laws which are contrary to our earliest
traditions and Sacred Scripture?.
In light of the current problems in our Church the
answer to these questions may help you to understand
your people better and offer some clues should you ask
yourselves, "What am I doing wrong?"
May the New Year witness the work of the Holy Spirit
alive and well in us all!
Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church
