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VIP Letters
"Dear Mr. Maher, the Holy Father asked me to thank you. His Holiness will remember your intentions in his prayers. Invoking upon you joy and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ, he cordially imparts his Apostolic Blessing. Yours sincerely, Monsignor Gabriele Caccia, Assessor, Vatican Secretariat of State."
Dear Friends, I enjoyed visiting your center and celebrating Mass for you. I want to commend you for all your efforts to help priests who have had difficulties in their lives and are in need of the assistance you give them. May God bess your work for our priests. Sincerely yours in Christ,
Please know that your generosity is deeply appreciated. Your encouragement and support, and your kind words are a source of great strength and consolation. Joseph Cardinal Levada Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Vatican City State
What a refreshing, encouraging message you are delivering, especially on behalf of so many priests in great pain. Your work is surely of God and though you will experience much of the pain you will be absorbing, your identification with Christ's priestly suffering will sustain you and make you an instrument of His Grace. Please know of my prayers to that end on behalf of all who are laboring for the good of the priesthood. Edwin Cardinal O'Brien Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem Vatican City State
I express my appreciation for your care and concern for the welfare of priests. I also share these same sentiments and offer my personal gratitude for your testimony to the goodness of the vast majority of our faithful priests. I commend you with all my heart for your solicitude for those priests who may be especially hurting at this moment due to their past mistakes and behavior. Timothy Cardinal Dolan Archbishop of New York
Your great love for the Church and for the priesthood is a source of strength for all of us. I pray that the Holy Spirit will bless you and guide you in all that you are doing. Francis Cardinal George, OMI Archbishop of Chicago
You have a zealous love for the Church and her priests and I appreciate and affirm your desire to be a support to our clergy. With thanks for what you are doing and with prayerful best wishes for you. Adam Cardinal Maida Archbishop Emeritus of Detroit
I'm happy to hear of all the good work you do for priests, both those who have offended, as well as those who have not. You show great balance! God bless your work! Most Reverend Michael J. Sheehan Archbishop of Santa Fe
I have read about your works very carefully and certainly express gratitude to you for all that you do. I simply write today to express my thanks to you for what you have done for so many. I ask God to bless you and all your families in abundance. Most Reverend Harry J. Flynn Archbishop Emeritus of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
Thank you especially for being there when so many of our brother priests find themselves vulnerable and in crisis. My God bless you a hundred-fold for your kindness of spirit, and your Christly love for our priests.. Most Reverend Wilton D. Gregory Archbishop of Atlanta
Opus Bono Sacerdotii is a wonderful movement. On behalf of Catholic priests, I am grateful for the attention you have shown to the clergy and certainly support you in this outreach to priests who find themselves in difficulty. I am quite confident that God will reward your generosity. Most Reverend John C. Nienstedt Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
Many fine priests have been vilified by false accusations and unfair trial in the press. We must remember however, that some bishops and priests have caused this crisis and we must all commit ourselves to renewed faithfulness to our vows, our Church and the teaching of Jesus Christ. That said, I can't thank you enough for the sacrificial way in which you have chosen to live out your faith. Our priests and bishops need people like you. You have truly been sent by the Spirit to our priests in need. Most Reverend Robert C. Molino Bishop of Madison
I truly appreciate the assistance and support that you are providing to my brother priests. More than ever, we need to support our good priests, and to pray for them. Hopefully more people will imitate your good example. Most Reverend Michael D. Pfeifer, OMI Bishop of San Angelo
It is both edifying and consoling to know of the prayerful support that you offer to so many good and faithful priests. Be assured that I will remember your apostolate at Mass. Most Reverend Michael J. Sheridan Bishop of Colorado Springs
I have read with interest about the organization you founded entitled Opus Bono Sacerdotii. In addition, my staff has reviewed the materials on your website. Allow me to congratulate you on your work and ministry to priests. Your organization is exactly what is needed at this point in time and I commend you. May the Lord continue to bless your ministry and sacrifices. Most Reverend Basil H. Losten Bishop Emeritus of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford
You are a long awaited gift to the Church! God bless you in all you do for priests who are in need ofthe healing and peace of Christ. Like John the Baptist, you are bold proclaimers of the Kingdom of Christ. As was true of John the Baptist, you will probably have to wait for your reward until Heaven, which surely awaits you for all the good you are doing. Most Reverend Robert J. Baker Bishop of Birmingham
Our Secretary for Clergy Personnel informed me of the agreement of your organization to help a retired priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn. Permit me to acknowledge my gratitude for this wonderful show of compassion in helping Father, and for all the help that you give to priests. Please share my gratitude with the other members of your staff. Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio Bishop of Brooklyn
Thank you for all that you are doing for our priests and loving them when they need to be loved most. I pray for my brothers every day that they may know the love of God in Christ Jesus, and my love and concern for them. Please keep asking us to help you financially and by our prayers. I believe that our priests deserve that from us in their greatest need. Most Reverend Martin D. Holley Auxiliary Bishop of Washington, DC
God bless you over and over again for the good work you at Opus Bono Sacerdotii are doing. It is a wonderful call to do what you are doing. You are an antidote to those in our Church who are so righteous and unforgiving. Some of those who claim to act in the name of Jesus are simply full of hate and do a good job in painting the Body of Christ and particularly its priests in horrible colors. We are a small poor parish. However, your mission is so admirable, we will give up something else, in order to help you. Blessings in abundance, gratefully, Fr. Patrick God bless you in the work. I have a brother priest who has gone through 17 months of hell. He has grudgingly been reinstated. I cannot stress enough the importance of your ministry. You never know, someday I may have need of it. God bless you. With gratitude, Fr. Michael. Continue the Opus Bono! Dear Cherished Friends, I am reminded of the Old Testament prophet who God asked to continually take back his unfaithful wife as a sign of Yahweh's love for sinners. Shameful, isn't it, that this, and worse yet, Jesus' teaching and way of life, rarely enters into the discussion about the Church we love finds itself. Our Church which traces its origin to Jesus and claims (and is) endowed with His Spirit! May you taste the new wine of the kingdom on this Lord's day. May the foretaste of the eternal banquet strengthen the gift you have received to ministry to Jesus beloved ones, His priests. One who is graced to be touched by the gift of the Spirit with which you are anointed, Fr. Jim Thanks to Opus Bono Sacerdotii. I really believe that your organization
is divinely instituted, otherwise where will priests
go for help? As I am facing now. I am very hopeful that God will NOT
desert me since he knows my misery and the very many mental agonies
that I have gone through. I am deeply convinced that He will use you
to give me the needed rest; because the circumstances surrounding
that day I discovered your website are all divinely inspired. I prayed
seriously that night and I remember deep down in me I was receiving
some relief from my obsessed situations. Really you are my hope.
I will always offer Mass for the growth of Opus Bono Sacerdotii and
the strength for its members. I just wanted to tell you what a wonderful work you are doing in standing
up for the priests. They seem to be the most abandoned of men. Like a knight in shining armor, you come to their rescue,
lifting them up, standing by them and providing some ray of hope that
they are not totally abandoned. Whether they are innocent, guilty of
something a long time ago, or shackled by an evil that humiliates and
knocks them down again and again, God's merciful love is never denied
to them. You are a sign, in a confused and chaotic world, of that steadfast
love. Please know our prayerful support is with you. Have courage and
continue to be strong. You don't know the joy your mission brought me. I have felt so very
deeply for those falsely accused, but especially priests who
are 100% vulnerable and left absolutely helpless if accused. We religious
have our congregations and orders to care for us. Your generosity in
giving up all to help priests is just as valuable as Mother Theresa
with the gutter poor. May the Lord in His generosity flood you
with His mercy, peace and love. I have been wanting to write and tell you how inspired I am to know
you're helping our beloved priests. They are God's own and
more than ever need a shepherd to lift them up and comfort them,
even in their sinfulness and suffering. We have all made mistakes,
but sometimes no one but a priest in confession knows our unworthiness.
Through the power of Christ given in a priest's ordination we are absolved
and walk out scott-free. Yet, so many (even good Catholics) will not
forgive these priests. Thank you for being a shepherd to the priests
in need and comforting them in their sorrow, and for your compassion
to His chosen ones. Yes what is happening to me is terrible, but it is a terrible
beauty in that as priests, no matter the toll it takes upon us, not
to be upset unduly when we are falsely accused. It seems to me even
when my emotions are raw or my temper wants to order a load of concrete(!),
how can I as a priest object to being lied about when the only truly
Innocent One was not spared worse lies? So I am at peace. But obedience
and justice demands that I see if this lie cannot be expunged,
for it makes it easier for people to lie about any priest and brings
closer the day when it is possible that true victims may be seen as
crying wolf if we let the lies outnumber true cases. Mind you I have
absolutely no desire to take on to much of this as I am myself more
comfortable being a dedicated coward! More power to you! It is important that we counter this vicious notion
that an injustice or alleged injustice of years ago can be righted
by a new injustice now. The demand that a person "must be punished," no
matter how long ago the offense or the repentance and transformation
of the offender, is nothing more than a demand for vengeance, which,
as the Scriptures remind us, is not rightly ours. Do let me know how
your project progresses. A huge thanks to you for the superlative job you did for Father's
defense. The full measure in which you both threw yourselves into your
work to spare him a life of woe and depression is far beyond the demands
of any job. I know that you also did what you did out of your love
for the Church, our dear Mother who is suffering so much grief these
days. Gratefully, and in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, You are doing an extremely important service for the future of the priesthood and the church. I am deeply saddened at the way the priesthood and clergy of all denominations have been negatively affected by the relatively small number of those who have been abusers. Jackson W. Carroll Dear friend,
Enclosed is my check for your Christ-like work in defending priests.
It is sorely needed! As I was searching for the answers and understanding of the great
injustice and pain that I received, your presence
and attention, your great faith and willingness to listen and to help,
was and is, God's gift in my life. I wanted to drop you a quick note to thank you for calling this evening. You have no idea how long I have searched for someone who would just openly listen to my thoughts about our parish and our pastor's situation. There are plenty of people in the parish who will listen and share thoughts, but none who had any more of an idea of what to do than I did. I felt invigorated after your call and spent the evening with my daughter playing my guitar and singing with her. I am reviewing your Web-Site also and I like what I see. Your group is obviously made up of thoughtful people helping people. Thank you again for the lift!! Jeff Is there anything I can do for you? Can I help you, in any
way? I want to give you back something in return for your graciousness,
care and love of the Church and those who serve Her. I checked out your website and I am enthusiastic about the work
that you do and will say a Mass for you and your work. Thank God someone is standing behind our priests
in need. Thanks for doing this work. Even for those priests not directly affected,
it's a huge moral support to know that there are lay people out there
who will be doing what they can to help them, because many priests
do not feel much support. I express my gratefulness to you for all you are doing for the priests.
God is great. I reviewed your website and know now a lot about you
and the "Opus Bono Sacerdotii" I even saw your photos. Thanks
to God. I checked out your website. Amazing (well not really since God is
God!) what God has accomplished in your work. In His love, I read your article regarding the year of the priests and the story about the 70 year old retired priest. It is very sad that priests are treated so unjustly. My heart goes out to him. I am sending a check! I did not know there was such a group that helps our priests. How naive I have been thinking that my prayers are enough. Jill While researching through the Vatican II document Presbyterium Ordinis, on the Life of Priests, I came across this statement which is a justification for the special ministry to priests in legal difficulties. This endeavor, then, is in accordance with the mind of the Church, and shows that Opus Bono Sacerdotii is activating what the Church directs in such matters. This quote is at the very end of the section entitled "Brotherly Bond and Cooperation among Priests" in the Flannery edition of the Vatican II documents:
I hope this will assist you in explaining this ministry to others. Fraternally in Christ, Fr. Stan. Abandonment takes many forms. It is not only financial, but it comes emotionally, spiritually and psychologically. Opus Bono has listened to my story and not only helped me financially, but offered me a sense of self-worth which I really needed during a time of struggle on many fronts. Fr. Den
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