1 November 1983

Your Excellency:

May we take the liberty of asking you to give careful consideration to the following quotation: "I will not shrink from uttering my firm conviction that it would be a gain to this country were it vastly more superstitious, more bigoted, more gloomy, more fierce in its religion, than at present it shows itself."

You may be surprised that anyone could express such sentiments, but it will surprise you even more to learn that the quotation is taken from a sermon by Cardinal Newman, preached while he was still an Anglican. He did not, of course, consider superstition, bigotry, gloom and fierceness in religion to be desirable sentiments, but, he insisted, they were "infinitely more desirable" than the prevailing sentiments in the Anglican Church of his time. In the same sermon, "The Religion of the Day," he summarized the ethos of contemporary Anglicanism as follows:

Here is an existing teaching, only partly evangelical, built upon worldly principles, yet pretending to be the Gospel, dropping one whole side of the Gospel, its austere character, and considering it enough to be benevolent, courteous, candid, correct in conduct, delicate—though it includes no true fear of God, no fervent zeal for His honor, no deep hatred of sin, no horror at the sight of sinners, no indignation and compassion at the blasphemies of heretics, no jealous adherence to doctrinal truth, no especial sensitiveness about the particular means of gaining ends, provided the ends be good, no loyalty to the Holy Apostolic Church, of which the Creed speaks, no sense of the authority of religion as external to the mind: in a word, no seriousness—and therefore neither hot nor cold, but (in Scripture language) lukewarm.

While we can appreciate that Your Excellency would deem it imprudent to say so publicly, we are sure that you would agree that there could not possibly be a more accurate description of American Catholicism today. The Church in our country appears indifferent even to the basic tenets of Christian morality. We live in a society characterized by permissiveness and tolerance of immorality. Indeed, the only immoral act for the typical Liberal American is to suggest that there are objective standards of morality binding upon all men! This deplorable mentality has inevitably affected American Catholics, and this is not surprising: it would be surprising for a minority group not to be affected by the prevailing ethos of the society in which it exists. The problem for the Christian has ever been to be in but not of the world. What, perhaps, we have a right to be surprised at is the fact that the American bishops, our shepherds and spiritual guides, successors of the Apostles, appear to have been infected by the standards of the world more than any other section of the Church in America. "Look at us," they appear to cry to Liberal America, "we are not so very different from you. We share your attitudes and aspirations, we are entitled to your approval. We are in the vanguard of the 'Peace Movement,' we receive awards from women's liberation organizations, we are praised by homosexuals for our sympathy and concern, we have made it easier to obtain a Catholic annulment than a Reno divorce, no one campaigns harder than we do for more lavish welfare handouts. What more do you ask of us? Just tell us and we'll comply!"

There is one word which appears like a leitmotiv in any statement by an American bishop concerning a moral issue—this word is "compassion." Compassion, compassion, what sins are committed in thy name! The sixth commandment forbids fornication, adultery, and all forms of unnatural vice—but for the American bishops such sins must be considered with compassion, which means tolerance and indifferentism. The moral teaching of the Church, which comes with the authority of Christ, is treated, to all intents and purposes, as just one of any number of acceptable "lifestyles." A person addicted to vice is no longer a sinner, he has an "alternate lifestyle," and to criticize this "lifestyle" is to make oneself a pharisee in the eyes of our hierarchy.

Your Excellency, we cannot tell you of the joy with which we here at The Angelus read the address of our Holy Father Pope John Paul II to the American Bishops during their ad limina visit to Rome in September. We hope that you noted the extent to which it expresses exactly the sentiments we have been placing before you in our letters. Indeed, it even gives us cause to hope that you have been bringing our letters to the attention of the Holy Father, and that he has responded to them in this address. We would like to remind you of the Holy Father's words on the extent to which the concept of compassion can be abused:

3. As a sign of Christ's love, the bishop is also a sign of Christ's compassion, since he represents Jesus the High Priest who is able to sympathize with human weakness, the one who was tempted in every way we are, and yet never sinned (cf. Heb. 4:15). The consciousness on the part of the bishop of personal sin, coupled with repentance and with the forgiveness received from the Lord, makes his human expression of compassion even more authentic and credible. But the compassion that he signifies and lives in the name of Jesus can never be a pretext for him to equate God's merciful understanding of sin and love for sinners with a denial of the full liberating truth that Jesus proclaimed. Hence there can be no dichotomy between the bishop as a sign of Christ's compassion and as a sign of Christ's truth.

The bishop, precisely because he is compassionate and understands the weakness of humanity and the fact that its needs and aspirations can only be satisfied by the full truth of creation and redemption, will proclaim without fear or ambiguity the many controverted truths of our age. He will proclaim them with pastoral love, in terms that will never unnecessarily offend or alienate his hearers, but he will proclaim them clearly, because he knows the liberating quality of truth. Hence the compassionate bishop proclaims the indissolubility of marriage, as did the bishops of the United States when in their splendid pastoral letter, "To Live in Christ Jesus," they wrote: "The covenant between a man and a woman in Christian marriage is as indissoluble and irrevocable as God's love for His people and Christ's love for His Church." The compassionate bishop will proclaim the incompatibility of premarital sex and homosexual activity with God's plan for human love; at the same time, with all his strength he will try to assist those who are faced with difficult moral choices. With equal compassion he will proclaim the doctrine of Humanae Vitae and Familiaris Consortio in its full beauty, not passing over in silence the unpopular truth that artificial birth control is against God's law. He will speak out for the rights of the unborn, the weak, the handicapped, the poor and the aged, no matter how current popular opinion views these issues. With personal humility and pastoral zeal the bishop will strive to discern, not alone, but in union with the universal Episcopate, the signs of the times and their true application to the modern world. With his brother bishops he will work to ensure the participation of every category of people in the life and mission of the Church, in accordance with the truth of their calling.

This zeal will be manifested in supporting the dignity of women, and every legitimate freedom that is consonant with their human nature and their womanhood. The bishop is called upon to oppose any and all discrimination of women by reason of sex. In this regard he must likewise endeavor to explain as cogently as he can that the Church's teaching on the exclusion of women from priestly ordination is extraneous to the issue of discrimination and that it is linked rather to Christ's own design for His priesthood. The bishop must give proof of his pastoral ability and leadership by withdrawing all support from individuals or groups who in the name of progress, or for any other alleged reason, promote the ordination of women to the priesthood.

In so doing, such individuals or groups are in effect damaging the very dignity of women that they profess to promote and advance. All efforts made against the truth are destined to produce not only failure but also acute personal frustration. Whatever the bishop can do to prevent this failure and frustration by explaining the truth is an act not only of pastoral charity but of prophetic leadership.

4. In a word, the bishop as a sign of compassion is at the same time a sign of fidelity to the doctrine of the Church. The bishop stands with his brother bishops and the Roman Pontiff as a teacher of the Catholic faith, whose purity and integrity is guaranteed by the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church.

Like Jesus, the bishop proclaims the Gospel of salvation not as a human consensus but as a divine revelation. The whole framework of his preaching is centered on Jesus Who states: "I say only what the Father has taught me" (Jn. 8:28). Hence the bishop becomes a sign of fidelity because of his sharing in the special pastoral and apostolic charism with which the Spirit of Truth endows the College of Bishops. When this charism is exercised by the bishops within the unity of that College, Christ's promise to the Apostles is actuated: "He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me" (Lk. 10:16). Christ's promise, by guaranteeing the authority of the bishops' teachings and imposing on the faithful the obligation of obedience, makes it crystal clear why the individual bishop has to be a sign of fidelity to the doctrine of the Church.

And in this important task of proclaiming the Gospel in all its purity and power, with all its demands, the bishop accepts willingly the apostolic challenge that Paul put to Timothy: "I charge you to preach the word, to stay with the task whether convenient or inconvenient—correcting, reproving, appealing—constantly teaching and never losing patience" (II Tim. 4:2).

Your Excellency must already be aware that after their return from Rome a number of American Bishops manifested their dissent from the Pope's admonition, particularly on the question of female ordination. We do not have the least doubt that they will ignore the Holy Father and carry on just as before, following the example of the Dutch Bishops after they had been called to Rome for the special "Dutch Synod" in 1980. What we consider is totally scandalous is the fact that almost at the very moment when the Pope was reiterating the Church's absolute condemnation of homosexual acts, acts crying out to heaven for vengeance, a "Mass" glorifying this loathsome perversion was held in Archbishop Hunthausen's cathedral in Seattle, concelebrated by at least forty-five priests, and assisted at by 1,500 perverts and their sympathizers. What is more, the perverts were treated to a fulsome video message from Archbishop Hunthausen who could not be there in person due to his presence in Rome!

Your Excellency, this is totally intolerable. We feel bound to state to you, with the most profound respect for the dignity of your office as the representative of the Sovereign Pontiff in our country, that this is more than flesh and blood can tolerate! Archbishop Hunthausen is not fit to retain his office as a bishop of the Holy Roman, Catholic and Apostolic Church, a successor of the Apostles. We feel that as baptized, confirmed, and ordained members of the Mystical Body we have the right to demand that you advise the Holy Father to remove Archbishop Hunthausen immediately from his episcopal office to protect the souls of the faithful in his diocese and to prevent further public scandal. We suggest, Your Excellency, that such an action on your part is demanded, not simply for the safeguarding of souls, but for your own credibility, the credibility of the Holy Father, and the credibility of the Holy Catholic Church. You can be assured of our fervent prayer that our Heavenly Father will grant you the grace and courage necessary to take this action.

We remain your obedient servants.

The Editors