Archbishop John C Wester,

We, the undersigned, Catholics of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, implore you to defend our First Amendment Right to worship without government intervention.

We have endured the sporadic closures and restrictions inflicted on Holy Mother Church within the archdiocese. We have watched as our brothers and sisters, from coast to coast, are being banned from the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacraments. We have waited for the bishops across the country to defend and protect their sheep from the onslaught of government abuse of power.

Now, with tears and supplication, we beg you, Archbishop John C Wester, to defend God’s children against this attack on our First Amendment Right to Worship. We implore you, because God has placed you over His sheep, to recognize the danger in allowing any government, for any reason, to exercise power over Holy Mother Church. We beg you to stand in defense of religious liberty. 

Archbishop, your November 13, 2020 directive states that ‘restrictions may be increased when authorities determine such is necessary to safeguard lives.’ We, the Catholic faithful would respectfully remind you, that it is within each person's ability to adhere, within reason, to the state and CDC directives, and according to individual health circumstance. Allow your sheep to decide for themselves what risks they are willing to take as regards their physical health. It is the job of a shepherd not to minister to the flesh, but rather to the soul. 

You place our religious freedom in peril, when the doors of the Holy Catholic Church can be opened and closed on the basis of ‘public safety.’ When the supernatural truths of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and Sacramental grace give way to defective natural ideologies, the wolf is at the door.

Venerable Fulton J Sheen once said that ‘a religion that doesn’t interfere with the secular order will soon discover that the secular order will not refrain from interfering with it.’ The bishops of the Church have spent many years embracing and acquiescing to the secular order. Your sheep now beg you, for the sake of your souls and ours, defend Holy Mother Church.

We the undersigned, Faithful Catholics of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, respectfully and urgently ask for the retraction of all current restrictions regarding the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Further, we respectfully and urgently plea for the retraction of all current restrictions regarding the administration of the Sacraments to the Faithful. Lastly, we implore you to rouse just indignation toward a state government that would rule over Holy Mother Church. Defend our God Given Right, and our Constitutional First Amendment Right to Worship Freely with no government intervention.