"A Welcoming Community of Faith Rooted in the Catholic Tradition"

Encompassing the Northwestern Province of the United States
Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North and South Dakota,
Nebraska, Minnesota, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Alaska.

 

The Evangelical Catholic Diocese of the Northwest

Post Office Box 178388   Chicago Illinois 60617-8388

Office:  773-721-5383     Fax:  773-721-2581      

Office of the Bishop 

  

December 21, 2010

The Honorable Barack Obama
Office of the President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President: 

I hope that this letter finds you and your family in good health and spirits as we prepare for the celebration of Christmas. 

I am writing to you again to respectfully request Presidential action which would release former Illinois Governor George Ryan from incarceration.  

I sincerely believe that Governor Ryan has taken responsibility for his stewardship of the office of Illinois Secretary of State and has repaid his debt to society. 

Mr. President, to keep Governor Ryan incarcerated no longer serves the common good for the People of Illinois.  It has always been my working understanding that the primary objective of the any Department of Corrections program is to rehabilitate those who are sent to it.  The legal system sent Governor Ryan to the Department of Corrections, not to a department of revenge. 

Mr. President, as Evangelical Catholic Bishop for the Diocese of the Northwest, I believe that I have a fairly good understanding to the meaning of repentance, rehabilitation and reconciliation.  In the matter of Governor Ryan, I submit that we have witnessed repentance and rehabilitation.  Now is the time to complete this process with reconciliation by returning him to his family in Kankakee. 

Thank you for considering my petition. 

I remain,

 

Respectfully Yours in Christ,

James Alan Wilkowski
Evangelical Catholic Bishop for the Diocese of the Northwest 

  

www.evangelicalcatholicchurch.org/northwest.htm

  

“A Welcoming Community of Faith Rooted in the Catholic Tradition”

 

Diocesan Church Office
Post Office Box 178388  Chicago Illinois  60617-8388
(T)  773-721-5383   (F)  773-721-2581
diocesenw@evangelicalcatholicchurch.org
©2011