The majority of pastoral letters accessible on this archive were found freely available through online searches. Some were downloaded from online sources such as episcopal conference websites and online newspapers. Others were archived at libraries across the United States and sent to us to scan into our database. Many more were shared with us from individuals and organizations from where the letters originated. There are still some that we know are out there, as they are referenced in other pastoral letters or summarized in online news sites, but cannot obtain digital or physical copies despite our efforts. As is explained in our About page, these documents are distributed throughout the public in their home countries. However, as we are not a part of the target audience there is difficulty in accessing all of them and even hesitancy in sharing with outsiders, especially academics from the United States. We hope that by creating the Pastoral Letter Archive we make it easier for people to read, learn, and study the contents of the letters. But we also acknowledge that such accessibility opens the doors for increased scrutiny and misinterpretation of the very organizations that put in days, weeks, and months of effort to create these influential documents. It is because of this that we worked as closely as possible with the country’s episcopal conferences to ensure that the letters are given proper contextualization and respect for the official documents that they are.
(We are not the owners of any of these documents and the documents available here are due to the expressed wishes of the publishing individuals and episcopal conference.)