Denounce Dolan-Trump Alliance: Phone Zap Report and Scripts
These scripts and forms from our May 8, 2020 phone zap can be used to contact bishops locally and nationally! Using the forms to share your progress will help us keep track of which bishops have been contacted. If you receive a response from a bishop, please email us at cta@cta-usa.org. We’d love to hear from you!
Numbers from our May 8 action:
7,000+ people saw the announcement for the zap on social media in the course of 24 hours. That's about as close to viral as anything I've seen CTA do in my time.
350 people registered for the phone zap in the course of 48 hours.
80 different people joined the zap call.
We collected contact information for 75 bishops across the country, including phone numbers and email addresses.
We made about 139 calls/emails total (and still counting),
90 calls were people calling their own bishop;
49 calls went to the four progressive bishops we identified before the zap.
We're still gathering info about how many people expect follow ups from their bishop, but in the 24 hours after the zap we heard from 20 people that they had at least received an email response. Not all of these responses were encouraging to our work, as some conservative bishops took the time to write a defensive (petty) and angry reply. We take that as a win.
And finally, in one of the most exciting developments, we heard from a few bishops who seem interested in working with us to develop this network of vocal and active progressive Catholics. We will continue to dialogue with these potential allies!
Some of the participants in the May 8 phone zap
Want to join the effort? Here’s how:
STEP ONE - COLLECT CONTACT INFO FOR YOUR BISHOP
First, do a google search of your local Catholic diocese and click on Form 1 to submit the contact information you gather - hit submit!
STEP TWO - REACH OUT TO YOUR BISHOP
Copy and paste the message below into an email to your local bishop (use the email address you just located on the diocesan website) and be sure to fill in the information wherever indicated IN CAPITAL LETTERS .
Dear Bishop INSERT YOUR BISHOP’S NAME,
My name is INSERT YOUR NAME. I'm a Catholic from this diocese and I attend Mass at INSERT YOUR PARISH IF YOU HAVE ONE OR LEAVE OUT THIS PART. I'm writing because I’m deeply concerned that the bishops of the United States are aligning with President Trump. Last week, Cardinal Dolan and other Catholic leaders had a phone call with President Trump where they offered praise for the president and did not offer any criticism. After the call, Cardinal Dolan went on TV to say that he saluted the president’s leadership. A bishop's responsibility in public is to speak truth to power on behalf of the poor and marginalized, not to make partisan alliances--especially not with a president who enables white supremacy. 1,500 faith leaders have already spoken out against the call and Cardinal Dolan’s comments. I’m asking you to publicly disavow the phone call between President Trump and Catholic leaders, and to publicly speak out against Cardinal Dolan’s praise for the president. I would love to have a phone conversation about my concerns. I can be reached at INSERT YOUR PHONE NUMBER.
In Christ,
INSERT YOUR NAME
Open Form 2 and indicate that you sent an email to you your bishop - hit the submit button and you will be given the option to “submit another response”
Click the “submit another response” button and this time call your bishop at the phone number you located on the diocesan website. Read through the whole script in Form 2 and track responses by filling out the form as you go. When you have finished your conversation, left a voicemail, or indicated that you were unable to get through, hit “submit” button.
STEP THREE - REACH OUT TO PROGRESSIVE BISHOPS
Copy and paste the message below into a separate email to each of the following bishops (you will send four separate emails, one to each bishop)
Bishop Robert McElroy, San Diego Diocese
office phone: 858-490-8200
Bishop’s email link
Cardinal Blase Cupich, Chicago Archdiocese
office phone 312 534 8230
Bishop's email link
Bishop John Stowe, Lexington Diocese
Karen Abbey, Chancellor for the Diocese of Lexington, office phone (859) 253-1993 ext. 249
Bishop’s email link
Cardinal Joseph Tobin, Newark Archdiocese
office phone 973-497-4000
Dear Bishop INSERT NAME OF BISHOP,
My name is INSERT YOUR NAME and I'm one of many faithful Catholics who is deeply concerned that the bishops of the United States are aligning with President Trump. Last week, Cardinal Dolan and other Catholic leaders had a phone call with President Trump where they offered praise for the president and did not offer any criticism. After the call, Cardinal Dolan went on TV to say that he saluted the president’s leadership. A bishop's responsibility in public is to speak truth to power on behalf of the poor and marginalized, not to make partisan alliances -- especially not with a president who enables white supremacy. You have been a strong advocate for social justice, and I hope that you will continue this witness during these trying times for our church and our world. 1,500 faith leaders have already spoken out against the call and Cardinal Dolan’s comments. I’m asking you to join them in publicly disavowing the phone call between President Trump and Catholic leaders, and to publicly speak out against Cardinal Dolan’s praise for the president. Thank you for your consideration.
In Christ,
INSERT YOUR NAME
Open Form 3 and indicate each time you send an email to one of these bishops by selecting the bishop from the dropdown menu. After each email you send, hit the submit button and you will be given the option to “submit another response.” Repeat until you have indicated that you’ve emailed each bishop on the list.
Click the “submit another response” button and this time work through the whole of Form 3 to call each bishop at the phone number provided. Track responses by filling out the form as you go. When you have finished your conversation, left a voicemail, or indicated that you were unable to get through, hit the “submit” button.
STEP FOUR - REACH OUT TO ALL THE BISHOPS!
Copy and paste the message below into an email to one of the bishops listed on the Bishop List - please look over this list and call at a random place in the list rather than at the beginning or end so that we can spread out and cover more ground as a group!
Dear Bishop INSERT NAME OF BISHOP HERE,
My name is INSERT YOUR NAME HERE and I'm one of many faithful Catholics who is deeply concerned that the bishops of the United States are aligning with President Trump.Last week, Cardinal Dolan and other Catholic leaders had a phone call with President Trump where they offered praise for the president and did not offer any criticism. After the call, Cardinal Dolan went on TV to say that he saluted the president’s leadership. A bishop's responsibility in public is to speak truth to power on behalf of the poor and marginalized, not to make partisan alliances -- especially not with a president who enables white supremacy. 1,500 faith leaders have already spoken out against the call and Cardinal Dolan’s comments. I’m asking you to join them in publicly disavowing the phone call between President Trump and Catholic leaders, and to publicly speak out against Cardinal Dolan’s praise for the president. Thank you for your consideration.
In Christ,
INSERT YOUR NAME HERE
Open Form 4 and indicate that you have sent an email to one of these bishops by typing that bishop’s name into the form. Hit the “submit” button and you will be given the option to “submit another response.”
Click the “submit another response” button and this time work through the whole of Form 4 to call that bishop at the phone number provided on the Bishop List. Track responses by filling out the form as you go. When you have finished your conversation, left a voicemail, or indicated that you were unable to get through, hit the “submit” button.
Continue moving through the Bishop List, emailing and calling each Bishop until you reach out to all of them or time is up!
