January 24th, 2019
His Holiness Pope Francis
Piazza San Pietro
00120
Citta del Vaticano
Dear Pope Francis;
We are US American members of the Catholic Worker movement founded by Peter Maurin and Dorothy Day, a woman you honored during your 2015 address to the US Congress. We write today about an urgent matter of justice - the need for broader representation of the People of God at the February conference on the clergy sex abuse crisis.
Like Dorothy Day, we love God and the Church, our Eucharistic community. But the Church is in dire straits because of the clergy sex abuse crisis, which has affected the faithful for many decades. It came to public attention here in 2002. Since that time, the Catholic Church is losing more members than it gains at a higher rate than any other denomination, with nearly thirteen percent of all US Americans describing themselves as former Catholics according to one poll. And the statistics do not reflect the feelings of betrayal, the loss of trust among believers or the anguish of those violated by people entrusted to be moral leaders and teachers of the faith.
We are heartened by your recognition that clericalism in the Catholic Church is responsible for creating a culture where criminal abuse persisted and extraordinary efforts were made to keep crimes hidden. We implore you not to allow this clerical culture to continue. We applaud your convening the February conference in Rome but we do not understand how a meeting dominated by male clergy, a structure that has facilitated this grievous problem, will move the Church towards healing and reform. So, we appeal to you to change the format. A broader representation of the People of God at the February meeting would be an important step.
In the August 20th letter to the People of God you wrote: "The only way we have to respond to this evil that has darkened so many lives is to experience it as a task regarding all of us as the People of God. This awareness of being part of a people and a shared history will enable us to acknowledge our past sins and mistakes with a penitential openness that can allow us to be renewed from within." If this is a "task regarding all of us as the People of God," more lay people must be included in the discussion and discernment of how to renew the Church. While we recognize that lay members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors are contributing to the preparation for the February meeting, we respectfully request a broader representation of the People of God at the conference itself. We envision a meeting that will include survivors of abuse, parents of the children whose lives have been destroyed, lay groups for whom justice on this issue is their vocation and woman theologians. We believe that including a diverse group of people, especially from countries where the sex abuse has had a devastating effect, is essential for restoring trust and will provide valuable guidance on how to bring reconciliation and true healing to the global Church.
Holy Father, we Catholic Workers have hearts full of gratitude for your sense of mercy, including your care for the earth and your love of the poor and excluded. We always pray for you, knowing that your work is difficult. As you well know, women, the excluded ones, were the first to recognize the Risen Christ in the Gospel. They saw the reality of the Resurrection when the male disciples were still mired in fear and despair. If a "resurrection" is to follow this crucifixion of the clergy sex abuse crisis - and we believe it will - then the perspective of women will be needed.
Yours in Christ,
Johanna Berrigan, Amanda Daloisio, Joanne Kennedy, and Claire Schaeffer-Duffy
The Catholic Worker
36 East First Street
New York, NY 10003
United States of America