May 18, 2005

Archbishop William Levada
Archdiocese of San Francisco
One Peter Yorke Way
San Francisco, CA 94109

Dear Archbishop Levada:

We wish to acknowledge your appointment to become the prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The position is an important one that will influence the direction the Catholic Church will take in the years to come.

As an American bishop, we believe that you could have a positive effect on the Vatican’s commitment to addressing the serious problems plaguing that the Catholic Church in the United States. The divisions exposed by the clergy sexual abuse crisis, and exacerbated by announcements in the past year regarding bankruptcies and parish closings, have wounded the spirit of many Catholics, who continue to feel a lack of spiritual comfort and guidance. We believe that the Vatican must provide the leadership needed to heal these wounds, and that your presence in Rome can hasten the development of that spiritual leadership. As the last few years have demonstrated, the creation of structures of accountability is a necessary step for the Church to regain its credibility. Lay Catholics are taking responsibility for their faith lives. As importantly, Catholics, through organizations like ours, are insisting on accountability in administrative and financial matters. It is our hope that you will understand the need for accountability and promote it in Rome.

We know that you are aware of the concerns that many survivors of clergy sexual abuse and lay Catholics have regarding the institutional Church’s response to the crisis. We urge you to address the outstanding questions regarding your transferring priests who were credibly accused of sexual abuse. There is considerable need for bishops to take personal responsibility for their actions. As the prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, it is our hope that you will take that kind of personal responsibility by disclosing the names of priests who have been accused, by disclosing your involvement in concealing the abuse of priests, and by advocating for accountability within the hierarchical Church. Additionally, we believe you must help to expedite the hundreds of cases against accused priests that languish at the Vatican. Both survivors and priests deserve timely due process.

Furthermore, we hope that you can bring this commitment of accountability to financial matters in the Church. As the former Bishop of the diocese of Portland, Oregon, the first diocese in the United States to declare bankruptcy, you clearly have some understanding of the financial condition that the Church in the United States faces. The burden placed on dioceses going through financial hardship is particularly painful for lay Catholics who fear the loss of their faith communities. Our members, and most Catholics, want the Church to promote Christ’s message of peace and helping those less fortunate. But they cannot feel confident in donating money to the Church while there is a lack of financial transparency in the Church. We believe that you are in a position to promote the idea of financial accountability in the Church.

Finally, as we are all Catholics who care about the future of the Church, we hope that you will make the Church’s commitment to the primacy of conscience a central guiding light in your new role. The Catholic Church’s dedication to the primacy of conscience has given Catholics the strength to speak out on issues of social justice, even when the larger culture around them has told us we are wrong to do so, for decades and centuries. Dialogue is, we know, an essential part of development that conscience. We hope that you will be a part of rededicating the Church to the doctrine of the primacy of conscience, rather than promote an idea of faith rooted in fear and the absence of dialogue.

You are in our prayers, as is the entire Church. As we expressed to Pope Benedict XVI, we look forward to creating a vibrant Church that advances the message of Christ’s love for humanity.

Sincerely,

Voice of the Faithful