Dear NYer -
Just to tie it all together:
Text of priests’ letter
to Bishop Wilton Gregory
We, the undersigned, are priests serving in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. We write to you as the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops because we wish to join our voices with the voices of priests of other dioceses in the United States, requesting that you use your position to achieve an open discussion of the issue of mandatory/optional celibacy for diocesan priests among the bishops of our nation.
It is our position that the current and prospective shortage of priests constitutes a grave threat to the Church in our country because, whereas our Catholic tradition and Vatican Council II teach that the liturgy is the summit and fount of the life of the Church, our Catholic faithful are more and more being denied their baptismal right to full access to the sacramental life of the Church, especially Sunday Eucharist.
We believe that the Holy Spirit does not fail to call to the priesthood sufficient numbers of the faithful from our parishes. However, mandatory celibacy is a major obstacle to devout and otherwise qualified men responding to this call. We believe changing the discipline of calling only celibate males to the priesthood of the Roman Rite to include married men as candidates would provide a priesthood of married as well as celibate men who would be available to provide for the leadership and cultic needs of our parishes.
Therefore, we are requesting our episcopal leaders to explore the issue of mandatory/optional celibacy for diocesan priests as soon as possible, and we are writing to enlist your support to that end.
Sincerely in the Spirit of Jesus,
Stephen Adrian, Richard Moudry, Edward Flahavan, Timothy Power, Richard Wolter, Robert Fitzpatrick, John Hofstede, Michael Joncas, Robert Johnson, Timothy Wozniak, George Wertin, Patrick Malone, Jerome Keiser, Patrick Kennedy, William Kenney, Roger Pierre, Eugene Pouliot, Robert White, Roger Carroll, Thomas Conroy, Bryan O’Rourke, Martin Warren, Thomas Garvey, Wally Boehme, James Notebaart, Donald Piche, James Schoenberger, John Long, John Bauer, Kevin Clinton, Harvey Egan, Michael O’Connell, Jerry Vandrovec, Michael Arms, Michael Erlander, Dennis Dempsey, Paul Moudry, Gregory Welch, John Malone, Richard Rice, John Brandes, Thomas Kommers, Joseph Whalen, Patrick Griffin, Kenneth Pierre, Timothy Morin, Michael Tegeder, Fred Maples, Charles Burns, Michael Monogue, William Murtaugh, John Parkos, Stephen O’Gara, Gregory Esty, Stephen LaCanne, Matthew Linn, Gregory Skrypek, Paul Feela, Cletus Wessels, Richard Banker, David Smith, Eugene Abbott, John Siebenaler, Richard Mahoney, Steven Henrich, Phil Dreckman, Dale Korogi, B. J. McMullen, Harry Walsh, Lawrence R. Johnson, Jose M. Santiago, James Zappa Jr., Thomas Rayar, Tom Poulsen, William Martin, William Stolzman, Clement Zweber, Ronald J. Bowers, Tom Walker, James D. Gorman, John Raymond Lau, Robert Sipe, Robert Monaghan, Joseph Gillespie, James Radde, John Clay, Douglas Dandurand, Eugene Michel, Jerome Hackenmueller, Stephen Bonian, Lawrence Hubbard, Richard Wirth, James Habiger, Fredrick Mertz, Jerome Boxleitner, John Fizpatrick, Robert Hart, Kenneth LaVan, Stanley Maslowski, Martin Beckman, Robert Nygaard, Ambrose Mahon, H. Hansen, S. McMichael, D. Schwinghammer, John Forliti, Robert Valit, Dennis Thompson, James Smith, Leo Tibesar, Thomas Brioschi, David McCauley, George Kallumkalkudy.
Yes, your "Fr. James Notebaart - liturgical designer" signed this letter.