We,  artists called to infuse our culture with the light of Christ, establish the American Academy of the Sacred Arts, the first of its kind, in Philadelphia, the cultural cradle of the United States. The Academy shall draw its spiritual resources and blessing from the universal Church.

We declare that the basic purpose of this Academy shall be to stimulate and sustain an environment wherein God's presence and the complex acumen of human achievement can be fused into a contemplative posture of creature before Creator, and diffused through the cultural disciplines, especially the visual arts and dialogue.

We trust in the providence of God. Sustained by patrons of the arts, the original site shall serve the most neglected discipline, the visual arts, and, in due season, other disciplines shall be engaged at appropriate sites by artists competent in these fields.

Of paramount importance are the following:

• Glorification of God
• Patronage of the Virgin Mary
• Encouragement and placement of artists as prophetic witnesses in accord with their function in the Mystical Body
• Concordance in society through infusion of the light of Christ into the cultural environment
• Artistic quality and spiritual insight, rather than quantity and shallow perception
• Spiritual refinement of the faculties and senses
• Integrity
• Preservation of artistic treasures of the Church
• Ecumenical dialogue