Letter from Jim Post Regarding
Prayerful Demonstration

Dear Friends in VOTF,

I am writing to inform you that the crisis n the Archdiocese of Boston has taken a sickening turn for the worse. New reports of Cardinal Bernard Law's overt and extended cover-up now include acts of moral depravity by clergy involving sex, drugs, physical violence and more. This evidence ranks in importance with the Geoghan and Shanley disclosures because it indicates a pervasive, persistent pattern of decision-making by members of the hierarchy in the Archdiocese of Boston that protected perpetrators and punished victims. The Cardinal's handling of the John Geoghan and Paul Shanley cases were not isolated aberrations. The new disclosures confirm a chilling modus operandi of Cardinal Law and his bishops, including Daily, Banks, McCormack and Murphy.

The moral tragedy we are living through will likely get worse in Boston and throughout the country. The intransigence of bishops, cardinals and the Vatican must be challenged by faithful Catholics. As persons of conscience, we cannot stand idle in the face of such evil lest we become complicit.

On Sunday morning, December 8th, Boston-area Catholics will gather (11am) to reclaim OUR Church at OUR cathedral, The Cathedral of the Holy Cross, in an effort to heal and express our sorrow. In light of these new revelations, we will reaffirm our solidarity with those survivors who have suffered so much. As a matter of conscience and human compassion, we need to be with one another ... to bear witness to the need for moral integrity ... to find hope in one another's words and emotions ... and to be present in large numbers.

We are calling on Catholics across the country to attend Mass at their churches and cathedrals in solidarity with the traumatized Catholics of the Boston Archdiocese. We urge you to participate in your own prayerful demonstration of Catholic hope and witness.

Peace,

Jim Post
President