12/13/02

Press statement of the Parish Leadership Forum of the archdiocese of Boston on the occasion of the resignation of his eminence Bernard Cardinal Law as archbishop of Boston, and the appointment of the most Reverend Richard Gerard Lennon as apostolic administrator of the archdiocese of Boston

On this day of both sadness and hope, we offer our prayers for all of us who are members of the Catholic faith community in the Archdiocese of Boston. While we are encouraged by the prospect of new leadership in our Church, we regret that this situation has unfolded in such a tragic manner. We pray especially for the victims of sexual abuse, and we would like to express our hope that Cardinal Law's resignation can help us move forward in the healing process. We also pray for Cardinal Law in what must be an extremely difficult time for him.

We would like to congratulate Bishop Lennon on his appointment as Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Boston. We stand ready to assist him in whatever ways we can as we move forward together with the mission of our local Church. We are praying for him, and we look forward to working with him to continue to strengthen our parishes in the Archdiocese of Boston. We hope that Bishop Lennon will be the unifying figure that this community needs, and that he will work with the laity and the clergy to effect parish renewal, to bring people back to their Church. We have been encouraged by his support for our activities in the past, and we are ready to work with him in the future. Through his guidance and support, we hope that our group can help bring parish leaders together to continue sharing ideas and discussing ways to strengthen parish life in our Archdiocese.

We hope and pray that each of us will have sufficient 'oil for our lamps,' that we will be prepared, for there is much work to do in the days ahead.