A penny for your thoughts...

...on the Pope’s handling of the clergy sex abuse and cover up scandal

This is your chance to tell the Pope how you feel about the clergy sex abuse and cover up scandal, and you can do it for as little as one cent!

The annual Peter's Pence papal collection will be taken up in US parishes on Sunday June 27.  We urge you to put just one penny in the Peter's Pence collection plate. Giving as usual means church officials have no incentive to change. If you don't put anything in the collection, church officials can mistakenly say, "It’s the economy!” When you put a penny in the collection plate, there can be no doubt about your message.  One penny is all it takes to express your dissatisfaction with the pope’s scandalous handling of the global clergy abuse crisis. Send a message telling the pope to stop making a mockery of both Catholics and their universal church. Every penny counts!

If you eat at a restaurant and the service is awful, you have three choices: 1) you can leave the usual tip—and the waiter has no incentive to change his/her service; 2) you can leave no tip which allows delusional thinking such as "They probably forgot;” or 3) you can leave a penny (or two) so that there can be no doubt in anybody’s mind about your dissatisfaction.

So give more than ever on Peter’s Pence Sunday. But please donate to organizations that protect kids, not one that endangers them.

Won't be at Mass on June 26-27, but are fed up to here with the abuse and cover up scandal and want to send a strong message in the universal language of money? For 45 cents--a penny and a 44-cent stamp--your voice will be heard and your vote counted. We recommend you send a penny with a brief note or this flyer to:
                        Peter’s Pence Collection
                        The Apostolic Nunciature, the Holy See
                        3339 Massachusetts Ave., NW
                        Washington, DC 20008  

A grassroots group of Catholics called Send the Bishops a Message is the sponsor of this “Penny Initiative.”  If you want to donate to a non-profit organization that provides direct help to survivors of clergy sexual abuse or want more information about our group, visit our website at www.sendthebishopsamessage.com.

CONTACT INFORMATION

(Include the names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of local contacts before you print the flyers.)