An interesting, and gentle, letter

From the Letters to the Editor of yesterday's Catholic Herald and also various places on the Internet:

We appreciate Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland's public apology last Friday and hope that it helps many of us Catholics in Milwaukee to move beyond our shock and dismay to find the voice of the Spirit in this time of crisis.

We were particularly saddened to hear the archbishop say that he considers it his obligation to repay the archdiocese the remainder of money that he has not already contributed toward the $450,000 settlement amount in his case. Not all of us agree that he owes the archdiocese this money and most of us are uncomfortable with the fact that money was paid. However, we wish to help our church and the archbishop as best we can.

We are setting in motion a large group of God's people who will let the archbishop know that we value the 50 years of service he has given to the church by helping to erase the debt of the settlement money.

Therefore, we have resolved to contact as many people as we can on the internet and other lists to ask them to send contributions to the archdiocese, with the notation that the contribution is to reimburse the archdiocese for the $450,000 paid as a settlement in the Weakland case.

June 29th is the feast of SS Peter and Paul. Perhaps we could be free of this burden by then so that the archbishop and the people of this archdiocese could move forward in the spirit of these great apostles.

Nancy Hennessey Cooney
Chuck Cooney
Tom Landers
Marjorie Reiley Maguire
School Sister of St Francis Angela Ireland
Mary Lux
Richard Lux

I wish that I had money so that I could contribute to this worthy gesture of care and love. However, all I have is my prayers, and the archbishop has had them ever since the day 25 years ago that we all wondered "Dom Rembert Who?" even before he was ordained bishop, and he will have them for the rest of my days.
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