February 13, 2023

At 5:00pm MT on Friday, February 3rd the Archdiocese of Denver notified the leadership of Avodah that our organization is not a Catholic entity affiliated with the Archdiocese of Denver. The archdiocese also completely severed any opportunity for further dialogue with Avodah. We as the Board of Directors of Avodah take seriously the accusations by the archdiocese.

We are working to gain clarity regarding the comments mentioned in the letter from the archdiocese. The conversations held among the staff, religious sisters, and others involved in the Avodah mission have been centered around a desire for clarity and a call to prayer. All religious sisters who serve with Avodah were contacted by Avodah leadership after release of the letter; the religious sisters met the news with shock and prayer for all affected. We as the board and the leadership of Avodah are in active dialogue with the mother superiors of each community of religious sisters. Our review of information gained in conversations and internal records in no way aligns with the statements made by the archdiocese.

Our primary goal continues to be the Christ-centered care of the women and children we serve. As we have never been formally affiliated with the Archdiocese of Denver, this decision does not change the nature of our partnership with the religious sisters and does not affect our commitment to following the teachings of the Catholic Church in all we do.

After multiple attempts to continue dialogue and share information with the archdiocese, it is our goal to charitably extend additional opportunities for the archdiocese and others to review information not considered prior to the February 3 decision. We ask for your prayers for those who serve in our ministry and the women who have encountered Christ through our work.