Letter from Cardinal Rigali to the People of the Archdiocese, 10/4/05
Cardinal calls for a time of reparation and renewal
Cardinal calls for a time of reparation and renewal
In the Eucharist, we find our strength
By Cardinal Justin Rigali
Archbishop of Philadelphia
My dear People,
Friday, October 7, is the second anniversary of my pastoral service as Archbishop of Philadelphia. As I reflect on these past two years, I am profoundly aware of God's love and mercy and I continually thank God for all of you. So many wonderful things have been accomplished in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ by our dedicated priests, deacons, religious and laity here in our local Church.
At the same time, our Archdiocese has been humbled by sins and failings which have scarred the lives of many young people and have deeply pained and scandalized the faithful. As a result of the sinful actions of some priests, these young people were severely hurt and the pain lingers well into their adult years. Family members have also been hurt. I also know that many Catholics are offended by the actions taken or not taken by those in authority. And now, as an Archdiocese we are all experiencing great pain.
I send this letter to you from Rome where I am participating in the Synod on the Eucharist at the close of this Year of the Eucharist. Although I am separated from you by distance, I remain one with you in thought and prayer, ever aware of the suffering that many of you have expressed in view of the reports these past weeks concerning the sexual abuse of minors by some priests.
On my part, I have committed myself to prayer in the presence of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament to ask healing and strength from God for the victims, for their families and for you, dear people of the Archdiocese. I also go before our Lord to seek renewed forgiveness for the evil committed by these priests as well as for harm resulting from mistakes or errors in judgment made in the handling of these matters by anyone in administration. At the same time, I pray for the wisdom and strength to lead our Church through this period to a deeper commitment and faithfulness to the call of Jesus Christ — a call that can be answered only through a life of integrity and holiness on the part of each one of us.
This is certainly a time of purification for the Catholic Church in Philadelphia. It must be, also, a time of reparation for sins and a time for renewal.
Reparation acknowledges that evil has been committed. It admits that God has been grievously offended and acknowledges the grave harm caused to minors. Repentance and sorrow, as well as prayer, are essential elements of reparation. As I have said before, I know that no amount of words could ever truly repair the harm caused to those abused as children by unfaithful priests. Nonetheless, I wish to express, once again, my profound sorrow to the victims for the pain they have endured and continue to endure.
Restoring peace of mind and heart does not come easily. It can only completely come about through the gift of God Himself. Christian faith assures us that our Lord Jesus Christ has the power to make all things new. Jesus Christ can, in every situation, reach into the hearts and souls of all of us to comfort us, heal us, forgive us, purify us and strengthen us.
Jesus taught that evil can only be rooted out through humble prayer and penance. The evil that has come to light at the present time presents such a need. I ask that, in a spirit of reparation, we join together in repeated acts of prayer and penance.
Besides being a time of reparation, this must also be a time of renewal. Renewal calls for a deep conversion of heart on the part of all of us in every area of our life. It demands a commitment to greater holiness and integrity of life, which involves absolute respect for others and the observance of all God's commandments.
At this time I acknowledge with profound gratitude and fraternal love the faithful priests of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, who are, and have been over the years, the vast majority of our priests. Your dedication and generosity, dear brothers, in serving the people of God faithfully are deeply appreciated and recognized by the Catholic faithful and by so many other upright citizens with whom you collaborate and are associated. You are, and remain, a great credit to the Catholic Church and to our community. The Eucharist is the source of your strength as you continue to offer your lives in service to Jesus Christ and to His people. Hundreds of thousands of individuals benefit from your ministry.
My thoughts turn also now to you, dear seminarians. I encourage you not to grow discouraged but to be confident in answering the Lord's personal call to you to be a priest. I am proud of you and commend you for your willingness and courage to persevere in your preparation for the priesthood even as the community of the Church undergoes purification. More than ever, I ask you to remain faithful to your responsibility to be formed in the image of Jesus Christ. The Church needs you. The people of God need you. We are all one in praying for you. By committing yourselves to lives of ever greater holiness and integrity, you will be able to lead God's people in reparation and renewal.
It is providential that I find myself participating in the Synod in Rome, reflecting on the Holy Eucharist. It is only in the power of the Eucharistic Lord that we will have the strength to make reparation for our sins and failings and to move forward in renewal as followers of Jesus Christ. We must turn to Jesus in the Eucharist.
For this reason, I am directing every parish within the Archdiocese to celebrate a holy hour in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament once a week for the intentions of reparation and renewal. I ask pastors to choose a time which is convenient for as many parishioners as possible. Some parishes already have more extended periods of Eucharistic adoration and I encourage them to maintain this practice, including perpetual Eucharistic adoration where this is possible.
Here in Philadelphia, we have the wonderful tradition, established by Saint John Neumann, of celebrating the Forty Hours Eucharistic Devotion annually in all our parishes. I also ask that a special intention in this celebration be reparation and renewal. If for some reason a parish has discontinued the practice of celebrating Forty Hours, I ask that every effort be made to restore it in the coming year and in the years to come.
I likewise request that, in the spirit of ecclesial communion with the local Church, all religious communities within the Archdiocese, all Catholic institutions, colleges and universities, retreat houses, all religious houses where there are chapels with the Blessed Sacrament reserved to join our parishes in holding a weekly holy hour with Exposition and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
I ask as many of you, the faithful, as possible to participate in these holy hours. I urge everyone to try to find some time during the week to pray before the Blessed Sacrament as we renew together our holy Catholic faith in the Eucharist.
During these hours of prayer, we will pray for the victims and their families. We will ask Jesus to heal hearts, minds and memories, and to open the way to deep peace and serenity for all. In our time before the Blessed Sacrament, we need to pray also for the priests who perpetrated these evil acts, so that they will be brought to true repentance and receive the Lord's forgiveness. We need to pray for the forgiveness of all our own sins, which have offended God and dealt harm to His Church. In union with our Eucharistic Lord we are called to make reparation also for all the sins of the world.
Let us remember that in the Mass, at the consecration of wine into the Blood of Christ, the priest prays: "This is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven." Forgiveness of sins is at the heart of our Lord's Passion and Death, which are renewed in the Eucharist.
I ask that prayers be offered for our whole community, that we will have the wisdom to address this problem ever more effectively, so that we will do everything humanly possible to ensure that this evil of sexual abuse of minors is rooted out, never to happen again in our parishes, our institutions, our homes or anywhere else in our community. Let us pray that all of us in our own life and vocation will live more faithfully the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The anniversary of my installation as Archbishop of Philadelphia, October 7, is the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. Certainly, Mary has a special part to play in supporting our efforts for reparation and renewal. In the beautiful prayer, the Memorare, we pray: "Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins my Mother. To thee I come, before thee I stand sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy, hear and answer me. Amen."
Finally, I ask that, turning to our Blessed Mother Mary in the confident spirit of the Memorare, we pray the rosary, meditating on the suffering, Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which are then re-enacted in the Eucharist. Trusting in the power of the Lord Jesus, who comes to us through Mary and remains with us in the Eucharist, let us faithfully commit ourselves to reparation for sins and to the renewal of our lives of Christian service.
May the Lord Jesus Christ grant us all grace and peace!
Cardinal Justin Rigali
Archbishop of Philadelphia
October 4, 2005
Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi