The Journey of Our Vos Estis Complaint Against Bishop Raica: From Mobile to Detroit, Then Onward to Rome
In a previous post entitled “What is a Vos Estis?” we summarized this process of holding a bishop accountable for his delicts. Now that we are all familiar with the purpose and formalities to be followed when a Vos estis lux mundi is filed, the parishioners of the Birmingham Diocese should know that a Vos estis was filed against our very own Bishop Raica. The Vos estis based on Bishop Raica’s activities in his previous Diocese of Gaylord, Michigan was filed with the Archbishop of Mobile by a faithful Catholic parishioner of the Birmingham Diocese, shortly before Bishop Raica was installed as Bishop of the Birmingham Diocese. The Archbishop of Mobile informed our faithful parishioner that the Vos estis would have to be filed with the Archbishop of Detroit, where the delicts took place. Since the allegations concerned a Bishop, the Archbishop of Mobile should have then forwarded the Vos Estis to both the Archbishop of Detroit, and to the proper dicastery in Rome, for prompt investigation. Instead, it was simply returned to the parishioner who filed the Vos estis.
In the interim, several members of our Birmingham Diocese community formed the Birmingham Diocesan Watch, which dutifully file the Vos estis with the Archbishop of Detroit, and we patiently waited for a reply. The Archbishop of Detroit summarily dismissed the Vos Estis as “lacking credibility” after their “investigation” and reported those findings to the Birmingham Diocesan Watch—once again, failing to forward the Vos estis to Rome.
Birmingham Diocesan Watch considers itself to be a sort of “sheepdog” helping to protect our Birmingham Diocesan flock. Asking for God’s guidance every step of the way, and for the humility to see our own failings, we will report on the inner workings of our Diocese as truthfully as possible, and let you decide if our church is acting in accordance with Catholic principles.
We understand that many in our Catholic Community will claim that we are only hurting the Church and the Birmingham Diocese by discussing these issues openly. However, we believe that “the only thing necessary for evil to triumph, is for good men and women to do nothing.” Very few discerning Catholics would argue that our beloved Holy Church is not being rocked by one scandal after another. We believe sunlight and transparency to be the best disinfectant.
We are now posting the Vos estis submission, the response from the Archbishop of Mobile, the response from the Archbishop of Detroit, and our letter to Rome. We trust that the careful reader of these documents will be well prepared to understand the gravity of this case.
1. Our original Vos Estis complaint filed with Archbishop Rodi of Mobile
VE-to-Mobile-no-sigs-12. Archbishop Rodi’s response, requesting us to forward it to Detroit ourselves, when it was mandatory for him to do so, according to Vos Estis Art. 2.3.
Mobile-Reply3. Archbishop Vigneron of Detroit’s response, refusing to investigate the Vos Estis complaint, which ignored explicit requirements of Art. 1. b regarding Bishop Raica’s actions or omissions intended to interfere with or avoid civil investigations or canonical investigations, whether administrative or penal.
Vos-Estes-reply-by-Detroit_nosigs4. Our letter to Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera in Rome requesting them to investigate the charges which Mobile and Detroit failed to consider in a responsible manner.
Letter-to-Rome_nosigs