We Are Church/USA
Manifesto
of The International We Are Church Movement
Here in Rome, 35 years ago, Pope John XXIII opened the Second
Vatican Council. Catholics throughout the world had great hope
for this event. They hoped that it would result in a more credible
church – free, collegial, poor, and a servant of all.
This is because:
- We need a Church of love, where all are
accepted equally.
- We need a catholic [i.e. universal] Church,
where each person is welcome with his/her life experiences, images
of God and longing for community.
- We need a Church that affirms God’s
creation that acts in a reconciling manner and reflects the unconditional
love of Jesus Christ for all humankind.
- We need a Church committed to justice
and peace, and which puts solidarity with the excluded of the
world at the center of its action.
In the certainty that God’s Spirit
leads her/his Church on new ways, millions of Christians have
supported the Kirchenvolks-Begehren. [i.e. Petition, Declaration,
Referendum, etc.] They signed the five demands:
- Building a Church of brothers and sisters
that recognizes the equality of all the baptized, including the
inclusion of the People of God in the election of bishops in
their local churches.
- Equal rights for men and women, including
the admission of women to all Church ministries.
- Free choice of either a celibate or married
life for all those who dedicate themselves to the service of
the church.
- A positive attitude toward sexuality,
and a recognition of personal conscience in decision-making.
- A message of joy and not condemnation,
including dialogue, freedom of speech and thought. No anathemas
and no exclusion as a means of solving problems, especially as
this applies to theologians.
We stand here for all these people. We speak
in their name and we declare that we will continue our journey
within the Catholic Church.
We have a dream that the 3d millennium will
begin with a truly ecumenical Council of all Christian Churches,
which will regard each other as equals in their search for peace
and friendship among themselves. This will be a Council marked
by dialogue and respect for all religions – at the service
of the world.
We support the call of the World Council
of Churches to launch, in the year 2000, a process leading to
a truly universal Council.
And so we pray: O God, "depose the
mighty from their thrones and raise the lowly to high places."
(Lk. 1: 52-53).
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