Petition to his Holiness, pope benedict XVI to Save Our Sacraments feast of corpus Christi-2005.Your Holiness Your Holiness is the formal style by which the Coptic Pope and the Catholic Pope are addressed, and is properly the superlative style, taking precedence before all other styles; when rendered in the third person, "His Holiness" may be abbreviated to "HH", but this , in this dark hour, when the shortage of priests in North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. threatens to deprive us of the life-giving nourishment of the Sacraments, we, the supporters of "Save Our Sacraments," respectfully urge you to listen to our heartfelt concerns: WHEREAS: The essential place of the Eucharist has been beautifully described by both Vatican II and your Holiness as "the fount and apex of the Christian life" [Lumen gentium 11] and "the beating Heart of the Church;" (1) and WHEREAS: The critical shortage and aging of our priests in North America (2) have already begun to deprive some geographical locations of Sacramental nourishment: Eucharist, Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick anointing of the sick, sacrament of the Orthodox Eastern Church and the Roman Catholic Church, formerly known as extreme unction. In it a sick or dying person is anointed on eyes, ears, nostrils, lips, hands, feet, and sometimes, in the case of men, the loins, by a ; and WHEREAS: The discipline of mandatory celibacy has caused the loss of over one hundred thousand of our good priests worldwide, and discourages many healthy, psycho-sexually mature men from entering the Priesthood; and WHEREAS: Our dedicated priests are stretched to the breaking point, threatening their spiritual and physical welfare in order to cover the ever-growing number of Catholics; and WHEREAS: The salvation of souls is the SUPREME LAW, far exceeding in importance any Church discipline; and WHEREAS: Canon Law canon law, in the Roman Catholic Church, the body of law based on the legislation of the councils (both ecumenical and local) and the popes, as well as the bishops (for diocesan matters). [212 #3] assures us: "[The Faithful] have the right, indeed at times, the duty ... to manifest to the sacred Pastors their views on matters that concern the good of the Church," We respectfully request Your Holiness to urge the upcoming International Synod on the Eucharist to make celibacy for our diocesan priests optional rather than mandatory, and to allow our many married priests to return to active ministry. Copy and distribute freely to supplement the 900+ signatures already received. Please return signed Petition AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to: "SOS SOS, code letters of the international distress signal. The signal is expressed in International Morse code as … — — — … (three dots, three dashes, three dots). " 53-01 206 St., Bayside, NY 11364 For further information, contact Fr. James E. Sullivan James Edward Sullivan (November 18, 1862 in New York City - September 16, 1914) was an American sports official. He was one of the founders of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), and served as its president from 1906 to 1908. via e-mail at: js23156@aol.com Contributions are welcome. (1) Apostleship of Prayer The Apostleship of Prayer is a union of the faithful who, through the Daily Offering, unite themselves with the Eucharistic Sacrifice in which the work of our redemption is continuously accomplished. : Holy Father's intention for June, 2005 (2) Dean Hoge, Conference on the Roman Catholic Priesthood Boston College June 15-17, 2005 |
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