We, the Undersigned, endorse the following petition:

Canonization by Proclamation: St. John Carroll & St. John England

Target: Leonard Swidler, President, ARCC
Sponsor: Ingrid Shafer, Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church (ARCC)
  • Signatures: 171
  • Goal: 1,000
  • Deadline: 5-20-2007
The Catholic Church today desperately needs held up as models Catholics who exhibited heroic virtue in living out their commitment to Jesus that exemplified the best of the modern, critical-thinking, freedom-loving democratic world. Hence, the Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church (ARCC) invites all Catholics to sign this Proclamation declaring Bishop John Carroll and Bishop John England Popular Saints.

Enter your name:
Or log in.
Display in public list as "Anonymous"
Number Date Name Country Are you an ARCC member? Should laity participate in selection of bishops? Should each parish have a constitution? Should the Catholic Church have a constitution? Should parishioners own their parish assets?
173 2:07 pm PDT, May 15 John F. Devaney, Jr. United States No No Yes Yes No
172 1:28 pm PDT, Apr 20 Theodore Bracco United States No No No No No
171 12:49 pm PDT, Mar 26 JOCELYNE ANNIE Canada          
170 1:58 am PDT, Mar 24 Shannon Sultan United States          
169 11:05 pm PST, Feb 10 Anonymous Greece          
168 11:59 pm PST, Feb 6 Douglas S Haight United States no no no no no
167 5:35 am PST, Feb 5 Anonymous Germany          
166 5:43 pm PST, Dec 15 Thomas Biddinger United States          
165 12:29 pm PST, Nov 25 Heretics sadf United States          
164 12:22 pm PST, Nov 21 Joseph Jaglowicz United States No Yes   Yes Yes
163 4:01 pm PDT, Oct 25 Grow up, you tools. Korea, Democratic People's Republic Of No, I'm a Catholic. No. No. No. No.
162 2:10 am PDT, Oct 16 Alexandra Nett South Africa          
161 5:57 am PDT, Oct 3 Dorothy Gibas United Kingdom          
160 12:45 am PDT, Aug 11 John-Paul Frank United States Not at the moment, soon to be Absolutely, as they once did. Yes, By all means Yes and the sooner the better. Yes and not controlled solely by the parochial clergy but under the supervision of elected lay persons.
159 11:55 am PDT, Jul 13 Jim Cummings United States no yes     yes
158 12:19 pm PDT, Jun 7 You Guys are Nuts Italy No The Holy Spirit works through the Church, not through a bunch of children who think that they can "vote" and tell God what to do. The Holy Spirit works through the Church, not through a bunch of children who think that they can "vote" and tell God what to do. The Holy Spirit works through the Church, not through a bunch of children who think that they can "vote" and tell God what to do. The Holy Spirit works through the Church, not through a bunch of children who think that they can "vote" and tell God what to do.
157 11:17 am PDT, Jun 6 Hazel Matich United States          
156 9:42 am PDT, May 3 Piotr Thieme Poland no, I'm not US citizen yes, of course. yes yes yes
155 3:59 pm PDT, Apr 16 Rose Mary O'Connell United States yes yes Should be an example of the people not just the chsoen few yes yes yes
154 11:46 pm PDT, Apr 12 Henry VIII Vanuatu No No No No No
153 11:43 pm PDT, Apr 12 Church of England Zambia No No No No No
152 4:13 am PDT, Apr 12 Satan Is Laughing Zimbabwe No, I'm a Catholic No No No No
151 9:26 pm PDT, Apr 11 So Sad United States Your own "petition" shows you have no support. Why do you persist in this sin? If you are Catholic, you know you are wrong. Why claim to be Catholic, when your beliefs are in opposition? Why not start your own "church"?
150 9:22 pm PDT, Apr 11 Please Leave! United States If you believe these lies, Why don't you start your own "church"? This site is heresy, and you know it. Confess and repent, or leave - NOW. Be honest with yourselves. It is the only way...
149 6:57 pm PDT, Apr 8 Jay Jensen United States no yes yes yes yes
148 8:57 am PDT, Apr 5 Madonna Kelly Canada no        
147 5:35 am PDT, Apr 3 Whata Fraudyouare United States No. Never. No. No. No.
146 12:38 pm PDT, Apr 1 Anonymous United States Yes Yes YEs Yes They already do! See the Seattle Diocese bankrupcy court rulings!
145 11:53 am PDT, Mar 29 Pleasetellmethis Isaspoofsite United Kingdom No No No No. We have the Catechism. No
144 4:56 am PDT, Mar 29 This is Ridiculous! United States No No No!! No - we already have a Catechism No
143 10:25 pm PDT, Mar 22 John Tracy Canada no yes yes no, as a matter of fact it should be abolished yes
142 4:36 pm PDT, Mar 14 Anonymous United States          
141 1:36 pm PST, Jan 21 William Shea United States no yes yes yes yes
140 12:51 pm PST, Jan 15 Peter C. Griffin United States NO YES YES YES YES
139 12:54 pm PST, Jan 1 Abp. Peter Paul Brennan United States No Yes good idea. yes yes yes
138 9:23 pm PST, Dec 24 Joe Keller United States I will be soon. Yes Don't know. Yes Yes
137 12:50 pm PST, Dec 23 Wenonah K. Chapman United States          
136 1:10 pm PST, Dec 7 Anthony P. Kowalski United States Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
135 8:15 am PST, Dec 4 Rev. Dominic Fuccile United States No I think it would be of value to ask laity what their thougts are on selecting a local bishop. I have to be honest and say I am not sure what a constitution would be, what it would consist of. I need to be better informed here same as above I think it would have pluses and minuses
134 5:16 am PST, Dec 4 Rev.Carroll Mrowicki United States Receive e-mail but don't think I have registered. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
133 6:02 pm PST, Dec 1 Joseph D. Lazzari United States No No Yes Yes No
132 4:16 am PDT, Oct 18 Robert Christman United States          
131 9:21 pm PDT, Oct 16 David R. C. Hudson United States No. Absolutely yes. Probably - at the very least a Bill of Rights. Well - the problem is that it believes it already does have a constitution of sorts - Canon Law! What is really required is a return to the patterns laid down in Scripture and the practice of the early centuries. Yes
130 7:38 am PDT, Oct 16 Brian R. Massie, S.J. Canada no yes yes yes needs defining further ... but probably, yes!
129 8:41 am PDT, Oct 3 Mary Elizabeth Wassel United States no No, I don't believe it could work. For what purpose? The parish would then need a council to implement. Are we a political orangization? No
128 6:36 am PDT, Sep 26 Desmond Donnelly Ireland No Yes Yes Yes Yes
127 9:23 pm PDT, Sep 10 Debby Gibbs United States          
126 12:51 am PDT, Sep 8 George Calleja Australia would like to be a member certainly as of right yes it is the charter of each and every parish most certainly drawn up and approved democratically by the People of God Yes because parishioner are The Parrish
125 11:16 am PDT, Aug 27 Peter Davey United States No Yes, most definitely! If we adopt a Catholic Constitution for U. S. church, a separate constitution for each parish would seem un-necessary. Yes. Yes.
124 1:55 pm PDT, Aug 15 Anonymous United States          
123 9:47 am PDT, Aug 15 Sandra Ribeiro Portugal   Yes, we should have the opportunity to select the ones that will decide about our common destiny. No. No. Yes, that would prevent a lot of tentations from the ones that are not very honest in the application of their mission.
122 10:07 am PDT, Aug 9 Anonymous United States          
121 8:15 am PDT, Aug 9 David A. Lysik United States No Yes, of course   Yes Yes
120 6:28 am PDT, Aug 8 Mustang Beam United States no not sure I think the only constition each parish should have is the one in the Bible. A bible constitution yes. If they earned the money to buy it, why not?
119 10:46 am PDT, Jul 25 Bill McCarthy Canada no Yes. that should be the norm.     Yes, I think that is only fair to the people who paid for them
118 11:28 am PDT, Jul 14 Edward L. Palumbos United States yes absolutely yes yes assets should be shared and owned by all members of the diocese under the Bishop's leadership and inspiration
117 10:18 am PDT, Jul 11 Daryl P. Domning United States Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
116 4:59 pm PDT, Jul 10 Mark Kurzendoerfer United States          
115 12:11 pm PDT, Jul 8 Tony Green United States No Yes Yes Yes [unclear]
114 9:45 am PDT, Jul 6 Jane Jordan United Kingdom          
113 3:10 am PDT, Jun 29 Josephine England United Kingdom no yes      
112 5:47 am PDT, Jun 28 MaryAnn Schoettly United States Not yet Yes, absolutely Yes Yes Yes
111 4:18 am PDT, Jun 28 Richard Johnston United States no yes yes yes yes
110 8:00 pm PDT, Jun 27 Hugh O'Regan United States Not at the present time. Yes, the time is long overdue for the Catholic laity to have a voice in the selection of their bishop. Yes, each parish should have a constitution. Yes, The Catholic Church needs a constitution? Yes, ownership means control. There is no theological reason why parishioners should not own the parish assets.
109 4:34 am PDT, Jun 27 Fr John McEvoy Ireland          
108 7:42 am PDT, Jun 26 Anonymous Japan No        
107 7:36 am PDT, Jun 26 Patricia Daly United Kingdom NO Yes      
106 1:51 am PDT, Jun 26 Michael England United Kingdom No        
105 12:51 pm PDT, Jun 25 Carol jones United Kingdom no yes      
104 7:54 am PDT, Jun 18 Thomas Pirovano Switzerland          
103 5:31 pm PDT, Jun 17 Kristi Katuran United States          
102 8:44 am PDT, Jun 14 Frank Timmers United States No Most assuredly. The sooner the better. Yes and with means to protect the constitution. Not sure. Yes
101 7:17 am PDT, Jun 14 Peg Walsh McKenna United States No Yes Yes Yes  

Canonization by Proclamation: St. John Carroll & St. John England



Until the 17th century, Christians of heroic virtue were popularly proclaimed Saints locally, meaning that they were popularly judged worthy of emulation and public veneration. It was only after 1634 that canonization was reserved to the Vatican. Unfortunately, the canonization process has become extraordinarily expensive (many hundreds of thousands of dollars!) and extremely politicized—e.g., the beatification of most repressive, reactionary pope in the history of the Church, Pius IX (1846-78). In 24 years Pope John Paul II canonized 468 persons–more than all previous popes together!


The Catholic Church today desperately needs held up as models Catholics who exhibited heroic virtue in living out their commitment to Jesus that exemplified the best of the modern, critical-thinking, freedom-loving democratic world.


Although we are fortunate to have one such universal model in Pope St. John XXIII, we in the U.S. are also blessed with two extraordinary men at the beginning of the U.S. Catholic Church who were outstanding examples of commitment to a profound Christian spirituality as expressed in deeply democratic fashion: Bishop John Carroll (1735-1815) and Bishop John England (1786-1842).*


Concerning St. John Carroll, see http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03381b.htm: "doubtless to him, in part, is due...that the first amendment passed ...that ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.'" St. John England governed his diocese by a democratic Constitution, whose reputation led to his address to a joint session of the House of Representatives, Senate, Supreme Court, President John Quincy Adams and his Cabinet. See: http://www.global-dialogue.com/swidlerbooks/, Toward a Catholic Constitution, chapter 15. Additional information on the democratic sanctity of SS. John Carroll and John England can be found at http://www.arccsites.org/.


Hence, the Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church (ARCC) invites all Catholics to sign this Proclamation declaring Bishop John Carroll and Bishop John England Popular Saints. Send your name and email address to canonization@arccsites.org, and spread this Proclamation by every means.


______________


*As with all holy persons, all Saints, the two Johns were not without faults–as were, e.g., two illustrious Doctors of the Church, St. Augustine, who gave us the horrid doctrine of predestination, or St. Thomas Aquinas, who justified the killing of heretics. Thus, the two Johns, as all Catholics of their time, accepted the morality of slavery, as St. Paul also did (the Vatican officially supported it at least as late as 1866). In that they were not admirable or imitable, any more than were Paul, Augustine, or Aquinas in their flaws.

Note: This Canonization by Proclamation: St. John Carroll & St. John England petition was submitted by Ingrid Shafer. ThePetitionSite.com is a free service provided to help concerned citizens rally support for issues they believe in. The opinions expressed by this petition do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of ThePetitionSite.com or Care2.com. There is no express or implied endorsement of this petition nor any newsletter offers (except those from Care2.com) by Care2.com, Inc, ThePetitionSite.com, or our sponsors. If you believe this system is being abused, please contact customer support.

Questions about this petition? Contact the petition sponsor: Ingrid Shafer.
Questions about thePetitionSite.com? Visit our FAQ Page.