FROM YOUR PRESIDENT

By USAC President Bill Ramsey

“I hope to be remembered as a pastor with a large parish.”
-- Joseph Cardinal Bernardin

The words of the late and beloved Cardinal Bernardin resonate in my mind, and, I believe, throughout our troubled church in 2003. The love and compassion of this man of God and prince of the Church stand as models for our besieged and beloved center of our faith.

In this society of a fast-forward, searing criticism, for Catholics, it is time of faithfulness and loyalty to our Holy Father and to all that the Church of Christ means in our lives; a time to stand up and stand fast for what we believe and know to be the one true church.

The dissident voices, now targeting bishops, priests and those who don’t subscribe to a “new church” for all to embrace, should be challenged, not cajoled and encouraged. Their intentions may be sincere, but their tactics are destructive and divisive.

The crisis is real as a minute minority of the ordained ministry has abdicated its holy vows. The guilty must be identified and dealt with, but not persecuted and left to die on the roadside as modern-day Samaritans ignore the need for aid and reconciliation. If we are to continue as a Church of giving and forgiving people as Christ intended, we are compelled to comfort and assist the victims of abuse. At the same time, as practicing Christians and Catholics, we must affirm those who serve selflessly and assist those who have fallen along the way.

The fury of the righteous, who assume that they speak for all Catholics, must be tempered by the mercy and forgiveness advocated by Christ Himself. To publicly denigrate our shepherds and our priests in the name of reforming a Church in crisis is tantamount to condemning the millennia of Catholic Church history and her mission of evangelizing and baptizing souls for Christ.

Voices of condemnation are quick to form and slow to realize that this Church, now more than ever, needs people of faith who will support, not malign and cast aside, all the good that bishops, priests and faithful have contributed over the centuries.

I pray, and urge the 65 million Catholics in America to rally to the cause of justice, compassion and forgiveness that is sorely needed in the Church today.

Cardinal Law and other leaders and priests who have made mistakes and put young people at risk, are certainly suffering because of the poor judgment and misleading information they followed.

To remain one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church will require “voices of the united faithful” to solve the current crisis and return our Catholic Church to its rightful place of honor and respect at the core of our priceless faith.

Let us pray for bishops, priests, consecrated religious and all the faithful to help bring order, understanding, justice and mercy to see us through these traumatic times.

Congratulations Bill!

President Ramsey became the first recipient of the Person of the Year Award from the Daily Nonpareil newspaper in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Notable among his contributions to the city is his recently published book, “Silent Hills Speak,” a history of Council Bluffs, co-authored with Omaha Serran Betty Dineen Shrier.

Return to Top