Title: The Bishops Secret Letter
Friday, 4:46pm -- August 2, 2002
Dear Meditations Subscribers,
Enclosed below is a very important note from Bud MacFarlane, Executive
Director of CatholiCity.com. Please read carefully and pass it on to all
your friends. Thank you!
Sincerely in Christ,
- Joachim Nelson, ocds
http://www.borg.com/~joachim/DailyMeds.html
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RE: Special Message from Bud Macfarlane and Deal Hudson
FOR IMMEDIATE WIDESPREAD DISTRIBUTION
Volume VI, Number 15
Dear CatholiCity Citizen,
I have personally received permission from Deal Hudson at Crisis Magazine to
send you the following explosive report on the secret letter sent by eight
U.S. bishops asking for an extraordinary Plenary Council. Below Deal will
describe for you the remarkable nature of Plenary Council, the white-hot
contents of the Secret Letter, and the amazing implications for all
Catholics in North America.
I respectfully implore you, the 70,000+ Citizens of CatholiCity, to read the
stunning report below even as I humbly charge you with the grave
responsibility, as you see fit, to forward Deal's message throughout the
world to your friends and relatives in your email address book. I believe it
is for historic moments such as this that Our Lord has gathered us together
in a unity of love and fashioned us into His tool for echoing the Truth. May
God's pure and holy grace be with you as you read the message below, and may
the virtue of holy prudence guide you in disseminating Deal's report to all
Christians of good will. Amen, and thank you. You're the best. I remain
yours...
With Immaculate Mary,
Bud Macfarlane Jr., MI
Executive Director
http://www.catholicity.com/
THE BISHOP'S SECRET LETTER
by Deal W. Hudson
Dear Friends,
First of all, thank you, Bud, for sending this message to the Citizens of
CatholiCity.com. As you may already know, the Catholic world has been
buzzing about a confidential letter composed by eight American bishops in
which they called for a Plenary Council to address problems in the Church.
Journalists and pundits have been speculating and debating about the alleged
contents of the letter and the identities of the authors. But no one really
knew for sure.
�Until now.
CRISIS managed to obtain a copy of the letter that was sent on July 18 to
all the American cardinals and bishops. In it, a group of eight bishops asks
that a Plenary Council be called as soon as possible to discuss the "root
causes" of-- and possible solutions to--the current crisis in the Church.
RARE PLENARY COUNCIL
Before I get ahead of myself, let me explain what a Plenary Council is and
why this letter is so dramatic. Basically, a Plenary Council is a meeting of
all the bishops of a given area--in this case, the United States. This isn't
an ordinary meeting though. It's the highest form of council that can be
called on a national level. It would be like a Vatican Council for the
States. In fact, the American bishops haven't called a Plenary Council in
more than 100 years.
And it's much different from their semiannual conferences, too. There, the
administrative business is done. A Plenary Council, on the other hand, is
much more proactive, focusing on "teaching the truths of the faith" (as the
letter says). Priests and laypeople would also be able to participate.
WHAT THE EIGHT BISHOP'S WROTE
The eight bishops who wrote this amazing letter are taking a brave stand by
urging discussion of those issues that were swept under the rug at the June
bishops' meeting. While I can't send you the whole body of the letter, I can
share some of it with you.
First, the authors of the letter seem to have a pretty clear understanding
of the crisis. Here are a few of the issues they want to face head-on at the
Plenary Council: "What has happened to the life and ministry of bishops and
priests that makes us vulnerable to the failings that have humiliated us
all? What things need to be going on so that in this cultural milieu priests
and bishops will preserve their celibate chastity along with all the other
virtues that constitute the life of holiness proper to pastors? How can the
purification upon which we shepherds have embarked help us, in turn, support
our people in achieving greater holiness?"
Notice the absence of wishy-washy bishop speak. These men know there's a
problem, and they're going to face it squarely.
COURAGEOUS GOALS
But it gets even better. The bishops get very specific about what they hope
to accomplish at the meeting:
Goal 1: "Solemnly receiving the authentic teaching of the Second Vatican
Council...on the identity, life and ministry of bishops and priests; on
matters of sexual morality in general (cf. Gaudium et Spes, Humanae Vitae,
Veritatis Splendor, and Familiaris Consortio); [and] on celibate chastity as
an authentic form of human sexuality renewed by grace and a share in
Christ's own spousal love for His Church."
It's heartening to hear these bishops raise the issue of sexual morality as
taught by Humanae Vitae, as well as "the very soul of holiness" for a
priest! These topics have been taboo for so long that it's phenomenal to see
bishops address them head-on.
Goal 2: "Giving unequivocal endorsement and normative force to the means
outlined in the documents of the Council...to foster the acts of virtue
required of pastors and the means needed to achieve those virtues,
especially celibate chastity (e.g., daily celebration of the Mass, frequent
Confession, daily meditation, regular acts of asceticism, obedient
submission to Church teaching and discipline, simplicity of life)."
You can't argue with a return to the fundamentals of the priesthood. This is
EXACTLY what priests need to hear: a public endorsement of their vocation
and the support of the bishops in encouraging a real back-to-basics approach
to religious life.
Goal 3: "Confirming the bishops in the authoritative exercise of our
ministry for the health and well being of the church, and strengthening our
coworkers in the Presbyterate in their ministry of teaching the Gospel,
especially in regard to sexual morality, so that we can give support to the
lay faithful in responding to their call to holiness."
Who hasn't been demanding greater accountability and action from the
bishops? Clearly, these men seem to understand what's really been bothering
American Catholics.
STRONG WORDS SUCH AS "GALVANIZE"
The bishops who drafted the letter also listed the benefits of calling a
Plenary Council: It "would provide a galvanizing focus that is authentically
evangelical and true to the Church's identity and tradition...[witness]
unambiguously to the fact that the Church relies on the grace of the Holy
Spirit...involve all strata of the People of God in the experience...have
maximal impact in shaping the ecclesial culture...[and] give a definite
stamp to identifying what is the authentic heritage of the Second Vatican
Council."
"Galvanize"..."witness unambiguously"..."maximal impact"..."definite
stamp"... the "authentic" heritage of Vatican II... These are strong words
for bishops--a group usually known more for its inaction than its decisive
action.
LETTER REPRESENTS ENTIRE SPECTRUM
One last thing. Unfortunately, I can't reveal the names of the authors at
this point. However, I can tell you that the list is surprising. These
bishops represent the entire theological and political spectrum. That in
itself is reassuring: The idea that we need a deep and lasting change isn't
limited to any political or theological ideology.
My hat is off to these eight courageous and dedicated bishops -- all that's
left now is to hope their colleagues will follow suit and sign on.
In 10 years or so, when this current crisis has hopefully faded away, we may
look back on this letter as the event that triggered the renewal of the
American Catholic Church. Let's all say a prayer of thanks for the eight
bishops who took the first step.
Yours With Christ,
Deal W. Hudson
Editor and Publisher
http://www.crisismagazine.com/
(Deal W. Hudson is publisher and editor of Crisis Magazine, a Catholic
monthly published in Washington, DC. His articles and comments have been
published in The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post,
Washington Times, Los Angeles Times, National Review, The Village Voice, The
Economist, CatholiCity.com, and many other prominent journals. He appears
regularly on television shows such as NBC Nightly News, Washington Journal,
The Beltway Boys, EWTN, and numerous national radio programs. He has been a
Professor of Philosophy at Fordham University, New York University, and
Mercer University. He has published four books on Philosophy, Thomism, and
Literature.)
