The Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church (ARCC) protests in the strongest manner possible the recent Vatican  intervention on behalf of Chilean General  Pinochet, charged with authorizing grave human rights violations from torture to nonjudicial executions. 
 
Such interference gives public scandal in appearing to aid and abet dictatorial oppression, whereas the Church ought to be a beacon of justice for the oppressed and powerless, following the examples of the great Hebrew prophets and Jesus of Nazareth. 
 
ARCC came into existence in 1980 in the wake of a series of unjust Vatican attempts to silence several Catholic theologians, including Edward Schillebeeckx and Hans Kung. It has since published a  CHARTER OF THE RIGHTS OF CATHOLICS IN THE CHURCH, and more recently a proposed CONSTITUTION OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, requested by Pope Paul VI in 1965; ARCC has also sought to enter into dialogue with Church authorities both to vindicate the rights of specific Catholics whose rights have been violated and to  work toward a deeper democratization of the Church. 
 
At the very least, ARCC calls upon the Vatican to publicly rescind its diplomatic interference on the side of General Pinochet and let international justice take its course in this precedent-setting case. 

The Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church (ARCC) is a national organization of Roman Catholic clergy, religious and lay people with affiliations in eleven European countries. ARCC works for the promulgation of those teachings which were stated at the Second Vatican Council. ARCC accomplishes this task through education advocacy, networking, and the circulation of its document A Constitution for the Roman Catholic Church to the Catholics of the world. For information about ARCC, write or call our office, PO Box 912 Delran, New Jersey, (609)461-8960. E-mail ccooperpt@aol.com.