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71 Central St. Stoneham, MA 02180

Letter to Pope Francis

Dear Church,

In response to the recent allegations made against Saint John Seminary located in Brighton, MA and the Grand Jury report from Pennsylvania, I wrote and faxed a letter to Pope Francis and faxed a copy of my letter to the Cardinal of Boston, the Secretary of State for the Vatican, The Apostolic Nuncio in Washington D.C. as well as the U.S. Embassy for the Vatican. There can be no excuse for the sinful crimes that were committed against children, teenagers and adults by members of the clergy. There can be no room for the negligence of those in leadership in the Church for those who failed to protect the innocent. We need more than just “I’m Sorry”! We need concrete action and we (the clergy and Bishops) need to get on our knees in humble prayer. As your Pastor and in recognition of those priests who were assigned here in the past who were abusers I humbly ask your forgiveness and I apologize. I am thankful for the victims who have had the courage to tell their stories and I realize that there are others for whom the memories are too painful to recall. I pray for their healing and peace and will make myself available if you want to reach out and talk so that I can bring justice and healing wherever possible. On behalf of Father Frank, Deacon Frank, Deacon Chuck, Deacon Joe, Deacon Bob and myself we pledge to continue to be fully transparent when dealing with the issues and accusations of abuse by clergy and others, to help to provide for the permanent removal of offenders from ministry, to maintain safe environments for everyone, and to strive for personal holiness (to quote Bishop Fulton Sheen: “The only argument the world will listen to now is the argument of personal holiness. It has heard all the rest and rejected them.”)

Please pray for us!

~ Fr. Mario

Text of the Letter to Pope Francis - 2018-08-15 (PDF)