October 16, 2003
For Immediate Release:
Contact: John Sheehan  413-527-9929

Pope John Paul II's 25 Years -- A Mixed Legacy

The Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church joins in congratulating
Pope John Paul II on the twenty-fifth anniversary of his pontificate. We acknowledge 
the Pope's achievements, some of which are:
his example as a person of prayer; his part in the collapse of the Soviet empire; 
his public forgiving of his would-be assassin; his championing of human rights in 
the secular arena; his reaching out to youth; his apologizing in the name of the 
Church for the wrongs inflicted by the Church in the past; his work for ecumenism, 
and especially his sincere and lifelong friendship for the Jewish people.

However, ARCC regrets some aspects of this papacy, which have caused grave 
harm to the Church. The most serious of these is the "Eucharistic famine," brought 
about by John Paul II's refusal to consider optional celibacy for priests or to 
discuss further the ordination of women. Catholics are being hurt by the Pope's 
insistence on upholding the Church's ban on artificial birth control,  his persecution 
of homosexuals among priests and laity, his refusal to reconsider the admission to 
the sacraments of the divorced and remarried, his resistance to increased involvement 
of lay men and women in Church governance, and his pattern of protecting prelates 
who had been credibly accused of sexual abuse or of shielding abusers among their 
clergy. ARCC regrets his continuous appointment of bishops who do not embrace the 
vision of collegiality of the Second Vatican Council. Finally, it is regrettable 
that he has chosen to pursue a witch-hunt against dissenting theologians.

ARCC hopes that these latter parts of John Paul II's legacy will not survive.


Mary Louise Hartman                 			John Sheehan
President                                      			National Coordinator
609-921-9134                                               		413-527-9929

Revised Oct 19, 2003

03/01/2005 09:32ARCC is a 501-c3 non-profit international organization dedicated to achieving substantive structural change in the Roman Catholic Church. It works to implement an identified body of rights that every Catholic has from Baptism and membership in the human community. ARCC works for a more collegial church structure which affirms these rights through accountability and shared decision making.