Clergy Sex Abuse Scandal
Send a letter to your bishop urging him to approve annual audits of all dioceses at the June USCCB meeting in Denver. See our sample below.
May 12, 2004
Dear Bishop_________________,
We have carefully watched the work of the USCCB and the National Review Board during
these two years since the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People was
approved in Dallas. We were encouraged by the reports issued in January and February that
the National Review Board had done its work well.We were hopeful that the bishops were going to be able to turn this scandal into an opportunity
for healing and real renewal for our Church. However, we are most disturbed by today's news
that some bishops led by Cardinal Egan, Archbishop Rigali, Archbishop Myers, and Bishop Bruskewicz,
are urging the USCCB to postpone approval of annual audits of all U.S. dioceses.We urge you to approve annual audits of all dioceses at the June USCCB meeting in Denver.
Delaying this approval until November will make it impossible to complete an audit of 2004
activities and this omission will undermine the progress that has been made. The trust of the
faithful will not be restored unless the bishops show that they are truly committed to the
words they put into the Charter.Call To Action believes that all the people of the Church share responsibility to bring about
healing for past victims of clergy sexual abuse and to do everything humanly possible to prevent
future victimization. Thus we will continue to follow this issue and to urge the Catholic people
to make their voices heard.May the Holy Spirit’s wisdom be with you at this critical hour.
Sincerely,
Sheila S. Daley and Dan Daley
Co-Directors
All of our material on the clergy sex abuse scandal has been collected on our new page: Bishop Accountability in the Sex Abuse Scandal
Firing of Unionized Parish Workers in Brownsville Diocese, TexasFour of the first unionized Catholic Church parish employees in the United States were fired by a new pastor in his first day on the job in McAllen, Texas.
The firing of the four women employees of Holy Spirit Parish on June 18, 2003 sparked massive protests by parishioners. The priest, Rev. Ruben Delgado, resigned on Thursday, but the workers were not reinstated. Fr. Jerry Frank, who was pastor of Holy Spirit Parish until last week, believes that Brownsville Diocese bishop Raymundo Peña orchestrated the firings.
Read the terms of settlement of the dispute, a victory for the women
Read media reports and updated information
Read an open letter to the bishop from the previous Pastor
Read an op-ed by one of the fired workers
Read CTA's press release of June 27.
Support the fired workers and the UFW
An Invitation to a Culture of Conversation
"Ephphatha --Be Opened!"
On May 26 in America magazine, Call To Action, National Federation of Priests Councils, Executive Committee of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, FutureChurch, Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church, and other prominent Catholic bishops, priests and laity joined together in speaking out for an end to the practice of silencing in the Church.
Visit the Culture of Conversation web site or call 301/587-0423 for more information.