A Sad Announcement:

The People of Hope was recently approved as private association of the faithful
in the Archdiocese of Newark. Unfortunately, the Church failed to address or
even consider the concerns and proof of physical, psychological & emotion abuse
on fellow Catholics who were a part of this group before they broke away from
the abusive practices of the Shepherding & Discipleship Movement in this group.

The Archbishop of Newark is being considered as a candidate to replace
retiring Cardinal Egan of New York.  Read the article
on Survivor's Network of those Abused by Priests for more information.

This "new day" for the People of Hope is a constant reminder
of others being abandoned by the Church.

"The Pope of Hope" was a nickname given to Bishop Paul Cordes who was the head of the Pontifical Council for the Laity in 1991.  When the leadership of the community ran into trouble with the local Church, Bishop Cordes was contacted. He offered encouragement to resolve differences. However, the community members were led by the leadership to believe that Bishop Cordes was advocating for the People of Hope. He was seen as the Vatican Bishop who would straighten out the community's relationship with local Church leadership and assist in gaining the Church's approval.

The following are two letters which indicate that Bishop Cordes had no intention of refuting the authority and jurisdiction of the local bishops. Here Bishop Cordes encourages someone to work with Archbishop McCarrick's liaison to the community -- Monsignor Paul Hayes:

As time progressed, Bishop Cordes came to the realization that the leadership's contact with him was being portrayed as an implicit approval the the community. In the following letter to Mr. Bob Gallic, Bishop Cordes states the community does not have official recognition of the Church and contact with him implies no recognition by the Church is guaranteed.

Do you think community members ever knew of the content of this letter???

Email:  hopeawarenesscenter@yahoo.com

06/10/2008 11:34:52 PM