Nota Bene: This document is published with the permission of the authors obtained via Dr. Milton Pozo. It should be noted that though the name of "Fr. José-Luis Vasquez" is often referred to in this letter, the responsibility for his actions as described almost certainly rests not with him, but with his superiors. As Fr. Vasquez is "on loan" from Mexico, has a limited grasp of English, and probably has little or no knowledge of City of Madison planning procedures, his actions in this regard are almost certainly at the direction of the Rector.
April, 2013
Rev.
Msgr. James Bartylla
Vicar
General
Bishop O'Connor Center
702 S. High Point Rd.
Madison, WI 53719
To whom it may concern:
During the Masses celebrated by Fr. José-Luis Vasquez Saturday 16, and Sunday 17 of March 2013, he made the following points:
We would like to clarify these commentaries and inform the
community why Fr. José-Luis made these
points. Many of you ignore what is
going on with the school building where you and your children were catechized
and evangelized [1], since Fr. José-Luis has
not provided any pertinent information to the community and has forbidden from speaking
those who had some knowledge about it. In the first place, the plan for the school building of
Monsignor Holmes is to turn it to house university students for a profit;
betraying not only the actual function that it had until last year, but its
stated mission written on the side of the building: Center for Catechesis and Evangelization. This is instead of restoring the
building for the use of the church and the community according to a plan presented
2 years ago, which was rejected without any evaluation or consideration. [1] In second place, we would like to clarify that the
signatures obtained were exclusively to request from Monsignor Holmes and Mrs.
Amber Cerrato, director of Religious Education, to roll back the Schedule of
Religious Education. [1] In that
meeting our desires and concerns were trivialized. In third place, we would like to know in which way we were
disrespectful to Monsignor Holmes during the March 11 meeting? We were offended by his completely
ignoring, demeaning and scoffing at our commentaries and concerns about the
project. [1] In fourth place, the commentary about the poor
evangelization we received lacks credibility by the mere fruits we all can see,
and deserve no further response; but Evangelization is needed at all levels, including
the level of Fr. José-Luis and Monsignor
Holmes, according to Pope Benedict XVI for Evangelization is not only
preaching, but more importantly, living it. Faith without good deeds is dead! Our concept of Evangelization is neither mercenary, in
service of money, nor deceiving parishioners; worse yet, attacking them when
they exercise their right to call the attention to the injustices and false
accusations of their religious leaders.
[1] Finally, we would like to know which law [canon] of the
Catholic Church states that parishioners need to be so for 20 years and be
properly catechized to be able to offer an opinion about church matters that
affect him/her directly. Certainly, we would like that Fr. José-Luis
and Monsignor Holmes reevaluate their negative and
destructive behaviors towards the community, for these behaviors are unbecoming
both in and outside the Church. We
will continue, as Christians and brothers in the Faith, to pray for our
religious leaders and our community.
We want to clearly state that we are not second class citizens in the
Church of God, and as active members of Holy Redeemer we ask to be treated with
respect and to stop the ambiguity in the mercantile manipulations of the Center
for Catechesis and Evangelization. We conclude with the canons found in the Code of Canon Law
Title I THE OBLIGATIONS AND RIGHTS OF THE LAY CHRISTIAN FAITHFUL Canon
210 All the Christian faithful must direct their efforts to
lead a holy life and to promote the growth of the Church and its continual sanctification,
according to their own condition. Canon
211 All the Christian faithful have the duty and right to work
so that the Divine Message of Salvation more and more reaches all people in
every age and in every land. Are they helping us to make these canons a reality? Yours truly in Christ, Manuel Fuentes (and other members of the Holy Redeemer
Hispanic community)