November 24, 2003

Most Rev. Daniel E. Pilarczyk
Archbishop of Cincinnati
100 East Eighth Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202

Dear Archbishop Pilarczyk:

We, the Voice of the Faithful, Dayton Affiliate, call upon you to resign from the position of archbishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. We understand that Pope John Paul II must accept your resignation in order for you to vacate the office of archbishop of our archdiocese.

We do not take this action without deliberate and serious consideration nor without prayer.

We ask you to resign under the provision of Section 2 of Canon 401: A diocesan bishop is earnestly requested to present his resignation from the office when he has become less able to fulfill his office due to ill health or another serious reason.

We believe you have become less able to fulfill the office of archbishop because of lack of credibility in the issues of clergy sexual abuse and failure of moral leadership in these matters. We believe these are serious reasons.

We believe that ultimately the issue of the clergy sexual abuse scandal is recognizing right from wrong and acting accordingly.

Credible reports of clergy sexual abuse came to the archdiocese during the years that you have served as archbishop and the files of the archdiocese became open to you in 1982, if not during your tenure as auxiliary bishop.

We believe your understanding of the tragedy of sexual abuse and your actions to resolve the crisis have come far too late and in the main mostly after glaring media and legal attention was focused on the problem.

The criminal conviction of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in Hamilton County Court on 11/20/03 to charges of the “entity” of the archdiocese having “knowingly failed” to report allegations of sexual abuse by priests from 1979 to 1982 does not provide us with comfort.

We believe the six-month limitation to apply for compensation from the victim’s fund, insistence on relinquishing the right to civilly sue the archdiocese in exchange for accepting funds, and the establishment of the $3 million fund without consultation with victims is reflective of the archdiocese’s continued inadequate response to the crisis.

We do not believe that you can lead the Archdiocese of Cincinnati to a satisfactory end to the sexual abuse crisis.

We make our call to you with thoughts of the victims and all whom this tragedy has touched. We ask for the Lord’s guidance upon you.

Signed,
Dayton Affiliate Voice of the Faithful