Pastoral Letter from Archbishop Perez on the Future of the Church of Philadelphia
Dear Friends in Christ,
On January 5, 2025, the memorial of Saint John Neumann, Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez published a Pastoral Letter addressed to the faithful of the Church of Philadelphia, and to all people of good will in the five-county region comprising the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
This Pastoral Letter takes the unique form of an Invitation to participate in encounters over the coming months that will guide our efforts to renew the Church of Philadelphia and especially to reach out in a missionary spirit to those who feel distanced from the Church for a variety of reasons. The intent of the Pastoral Letter can be understood from the titles of its sections:
Where are we today?
A pastoral change of heart
Where does the Church need to be?
How does the Church need to be?
Parish renewal and reimagining ministry
Copies of the Pastoral Letter in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Vietnamese, are attached below.
Please take time to read and consider the Pastoral Letter in the context of prayer and discernment. Your ministry on behalf of the Church of Philadelphia is an essential element of the renewal that the Archbishop is seeking. Please be intentional about giving thanks for the ministry with which you have been entrusted, listening to the Lord’s plan for you in that ministry, and interceding for your colleagues in ministry and for the people whom you serve.
Please share the Pastoral Letter widely with all the contacts you have made through the work of your ministry. It can be shared immediately with whatever distribution lists you use – every person connected in any way with the Church of Philadelphia is an intended recipient of the Pastoral Letter. Don’t worry that some people will receive multiple copies of the Pastoral Letter from various sources. The wider the distribution, the more effective will be the consultation to which the Archbishop is inviting people through the Pastoral Letter.
In particular, please consider sharing the Pastoral Letter personally with family members, friends and neighbors who are baptized Catholic but feel alienated from the Church or from the practice of the Faith, as well as those who are not Catholic but are interested in what Catholics believe and practice. Some of them may see the Pastoral Letter in secular media or other sources, but a personal invitation from you to read and discuss it will have a much greater impact.
Please follow the link in the Pastoral Letter to the website, where you can learn more about the consultation process, and sign up to take part in it.
Please pray fervently for everyone who will receive and read the Pastoral Letter, that each person, no matter his or her connection with or role in the Church of Philadelphia at the moment, will be inspired and led to the pastoral change of heart that will enrich and strengthen the mission of the Church and the life of each member of it.
Thank you and may God bless you abundantly during this New Year with peace, health, and happiness.
