17 May 2006
Japan

The Congregation for Divine Worship
and the Discipline of the Sacraments
10 Piazza Pio XII 10
00120 Vatican City State
Europe

Dear Father,

I had sent a letter dated this month 8 to you, about the problem that I am denied Holy Communion unjustly by my priest because I wish to kneel to Jesus. Did you take any action about that?

My friend said,"Vatican will not act. My friend had continued sending letters to Vatican many many times before, but nothing happened after all. Vatican itself is bureaucratic. And it leaves each country to each country."
Is this true?

It may be surely necessary for you to be bureaucratic to handle many problems which flock every day. But if you have a bureaucratic tendency too strongly, any problem will be slow to be solved. (Please allow for me to talk a little impolitely to express the things distinctly.)

You said in your instruction "Redemptionis Sacramentum":

"[184.] Any Catholic, whether Priest or Deacon or lay member of Christ’s faithful, has the right to lodge a complaint regarding a liturgical abuse to the diocesan Bishop or the competent Ordinary equivalent to him in law, or to the Apostolic See on account of the primacy of the Roman Pontiff."

And Father Medina Estevez, who is your predecessor, said in the letter addressed to a certain American bishop on July 1, 2002:

"The Congregation in fact is concerned at the number of similar complaints that it has received in recent months from various places, and considers any refusal of Holy Communion to a member of the faithful on the basis of his or her kneeling posture to be a grave violation of one of the most basic rights of the Christian faithful, namely that of being assisted by their Pastors by means of the Sacraments."

While we have these your such clear and strong words, can't we expect any help from you?
While you are a faithful agent of the Lord Jesus, are you going to leave this problem and only return it to empty hands of Lay Faithful?
You the Congregation say,"a grave violation." Do you make this word empty by yourself? I feel that it is sad and bad.

Or must I take an official way? Must I take a process to reach your Tribunals of the Roman Rota out of the lower court of our parish? Of course I think it as one of the choices. But aren't any problems settled unless I go through such an exaggerated procedure?

Please give me some answer. Please write to me your opinion about this problem, as a person who agreed in Pope’s will faithfully. You should not only say, "Ask your bishop."

Please don't think this problem to be a small thing.
I think that you know "Broken Windows Theory" of psychology. When you leave a small problem, the Bishops' Committee of each country will come to leave Rome more and more.

In hope of early solution of the problem, I will send my letter to Pope too.

Then I wait for your answer. Thank you.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

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