Letter Writing Campaign in Support of Archbishop Burke

Voice of the Faithful-St Louis is having a 'conference' next weekend on 3/13 with Fr. Donald Cozzens as the keynote speaker. In a discussion it was noted that this appears to be the first time that preregistration is required and it may stem from the fact that last year, after faithful, orthodox Catholics began asking Fr. Richard McBrien and others legitimate questions during the Q&A period, the microphones were shut off. An account of what happened, entitled, "Where the Faithful Have No Voice" can be read here.

What follows is what was posted on a St Louis Catholic List in reponse to a another upcoming conference by Voice of the Faithful-St. Louis. I was given permission to post it here and on other sites. I have done some minor editing to it, but it is substantially the same.

The St. Louis Chapter of Voice of the Faithful had tried a letter writing campaign late last year to have a voice in the selection of our new archbishop to replace Justin Cardinal Rigali.

Here is the post:

The St. Louis affiliate of VOTF has a link to the following on their website. They have links to other articles and editorials about themselves too, and all of those have comments about how they have been misunderstood. There is no such comment about this column, so I conclude they see themselves as the columnist from National Catholic Reporter, Sr. Joan Chittister, sees them...

Voice of Faithful goes after biggest issue of all: authority


If you go to their website www.votfsl.org and click the little headline-crawl across the top, it will (mistakenly, I'm sure) take you to an old letter-writing campaign of theirs, where they say:

"with our input in his selection, the new Archbishop would immediately come
to us confident that he has the trust and backing of his people. Without our involvement in the selection process, he will need time to earn our trust and confidence."

as if Archbishop Burke needs the 'trust and confidence' of VOTF St. Louis. Here is a handy link to the page in question so you don't have to click on the crawl:

http://134.124.1.107/~fsl/upcoming.html

I think we should have our own letter-writing campaign. Let's tell the Apostolic Nuncio
Bishop Gabriel Montalvo and Archbishop Burke that he has our 'trust and backing' by virtue of his track-record in the Cold North, and that VOTF St. Louis is the tiny voice of a self-described faithful which doesn't speak for us. We should mention the VOTF
letter-writing campaign so everyone knows what we're responding to.

Let's get the campaign underway. There's the Credo Newsletter, the TFP America Needs Fatima group, the Latin Liturgy Association, and Women for Faith and Family. I bet we could publicize it on WRYT if we tried. We can encourage all these to get the campaign underway to coincide with Archbishop Burke's investure with the Pallium on June 29th. Everyone should compose a letter and have it ready to mail on June 1st. Can we get 500 letters mailed to Bishop Montalvo and the chancery?

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Here's a sample letter...
Remember, these letters should be mailed on or about June 1, for the best effect and impression AND we need to have HUNDREDS of people involved.

Most Rev. Bishop Gabriel Montalvo
Apostolic Nuncio
3339 Massachusetts Ave. N.W.
Washington, DC 20008-7121

Your Excellency,

I am aware of a letter writing campaign undertaken by the self-described
"Voice of the Faithful" in St. Louis expressing concern about not being
consulted about Justin Cardinal Rigali's departure, and most especially
about Archbishop Raymond Burke's appointment. I would like to tell you about
other voices.

Many here in St. Louis are proud to have seen our former Archbishop honored
by the Church, and wish him continued success in his new posting. We
understand that Roman Catholics go when they are sent. We are reminded of
this tradition at the close of every Mass with the clever play on words:
"ite, Missa est".

Many, including myself, are grateful to the Holy Father for the appointment
of the courageously outspoken Archbishop Burke to St. Louis. Even without
our involvement in the selection process, Archbishop Burke can be confident
he has the has the trust and backing of many by virtue of his actions in
LaCrosse and here in St. Louis since his arrival.

Thank you for your work as the ambassador of Pope John Paull II to the Church
in the United States, and please do not be swayed by dissidents identifying new
"faith traditions". I am sure they are moved by a Spirit, but it isn't Holy.

Sincerely yours in Christ,