News and Media Releases

Press Release, Rome, Dublin, Innsbruck, Munich, 30.October 2026

What began as an outcry in 1995 has become a global issue today: sexual and spiritual abuse are now being discussed, and their systemic root causes are on the agenda worldwide. "It took a long time—far too long," says Dr. Martha Heizer, co-initiator of the first Church People’s Petition in Austria in 1995 and current Vice-President of We Are Church International, on the occasion of the organization’s 30th anniversary. "But we have succeeded in placing topics on the agenda that were considered untouchable for decades."

From Scandal to Movement

It began with a crisis: in 1995, allegations of abuse against the Viennese Cardinal Hans Hermann Groër shook the Church in Austria. It was the first scandal of this kind to come to light at the leadership level of a local Church anywhere in the world. The response from the faithful was a petition for the Church, which put forward five constructive demands:

• A fraternal Church

• Full equality for women

• The abolition of mandatory celibacy

• A renewed sexual ethic

• A "message of joy" (Good News) rather than a "message of threats"

More than 500,000 people signed the petition in Austria, and 1.8 million in Germany.

In November 1996, 30 representatives from 12 countries gathered in Rome to found the international movement We Are Church.

Thirty Years Later

Today, the movement is active in 18 countries, connected to numerous reform organizations worldwide, and has been present at every synod and conclave in Rome since 1999 (see appendix).

“The issues that were highly controversial back when the Church People’s Petition was launched have since been identified by the German study on sexual abuse as systemic risk factors,” explains Christian Weisner, a co-initiator of the Church People’s Petition in Germany. “Since 2019, these points have been under discussion within the ‘Synodal Path’ in Germany, and since 2021, they have also been part of the global synodal process. Initial reforms have been adopted, but much remains to be implemented.” According to Weisner, the Synodal Path also rests, in part, on the shoulders of the We Are Church movement.

Looking Ahead

No one intends to rest on their laurels. “We Are Church fully supports the global synodal process initiated by Pope Francis and continued by Pope Leo XlV a process aimed at steering the Catholic Church back toward the path set by the Second Vatican Council (1962–65),” says Colm Holmes from Ireland, the current president of We Are Church International. “We have achieved a great deal, but much remains to be done—and, above all, implemented—both within local churches and in Rome. That is why we remain committed to guiding the Catholic Church back to the course charted by the Second Vatican Council, ensuring it can fulfil its service to humanity and the world.”

Testimonials

Helena Jeppesen-Spuhler, member of the 2023 and 2024 Synod on Synodality, Switzerland: “Heartfelt congratulations and a big thank you to We Are Church for your tireless commitment to a Church of equal dignity! Throughout the various stages of the synodal process—at the European synodal assembly in Prague in the autumn of 2023, and in Rome in the autumns of 2023 and 2024—you have always been there, offering both critical reminders and creative support. As a participant in the Synod on Synodality, I truly value your global grassroots network. A heartfelt thank you, and sempre avanti [always moving forward]!”

Mary McAleese, former President of Ireland (1997–2011):

"The five goals of We are Church International are a sure pathway to the discipleship of equals Christ intended and Church leadership has frustrated for too long. If the great commandment to love one another is to mean anything in a world crying out for the radical change love can bring then it is past time the magisterium took seriously the work of We are Church.”

Prof. Dr. Thomas Söding, Vice-President of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) and of the Synodal Path in Germany, expert at various Bishops’ Synods in Rome:

“The Catholic Church needs a vital grassroots base. And that base needs initiatives that are independent and possess great staying power. We Are Church is at the forefront—and has been for a long time, just as it will continue to be in the future. Heartfelt congratulations!”

Press Contact:

Colm Holmes, Chair, We Are Church International
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: +353 86606 3636

Dr. Martha Heizer, Vice-Chair, We Are Church International
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: +43 650 4168500

Christian Weisner, We Are Church Germany
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: +49 172 518 4082

Catholic groups representing many thousands of Catholics throughout the world* have written to the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops questioning the commitment of many bishops to the very concept of synodality. A copy of the letter is attached.

The letter rejects the widespread autocratic governance in the Church’s clericalist hierarchy. The signatories assert that the recent Canonical Commission’s proposed canon laws mandating synodality will fail without strong papal reinforcement.

Synodality

Synodality has been mandated by the late Pope Francis and by Pope Leo as:

• the specific modus vivendi et operandi of the Church, the People of God
• demanding listening to the faithful, inclusiveness, accountability and transparency
• applying to all Christian decision making, especially in the Church, vital to genuinely Christian governance.
• “part of the ordinary Magisterium of the Successor of Peter”,
• “the appropriate interpretative framework for understanding hierarchical ministry.”

Synodality is the antithesis of clericalist autocracy. Autocracy and clericalism were major factors in the cover-up of clerical child sexual abuse.

Synodal Charades

The signatories to the letter expose global synodal failures - “synodal charades”:

“. . . many bishops continue to lead and decide unilaterally and autocratically. Many of the mandated diocesan synods are in fact episcopally controlled, far from the spirit of synodality, with bishops determining the agendas, the participants, processes, and outcomes.”

Continued exclusion of Women

The signatories note that canon law continues to exclude women from ‘offices the exercise of which requires the power of order or the power of ecclesiastical governance’, despite the conclusion of the Synod on Synodality, that:

“There is no reason or impediment that should prevent women from carrying out leadership roles in the Church. . .”

Aim of Letter:

In essence, the signatories request the General Secretary to ensure that:

• bishops commit to synodality in practice and culture,
• all the people of God be included in synodal engagement,
• canons excluding women from leadership and ministry be repealed
• bishops and priests include the faithful fully in the spirit of synodality.

Media contact: Any of the signatories* or

General Contact, Peter Johnstone: E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; Ph: +61 419 307 566

*

Church Renewal Signatory organisations

We Are Church International, Root & Branch, Council of Australasian Catholics, Spirit Unbounded, Catholic Church Reform International, International Church Reform Network, Association of Catholic Priests

Contact details – see below

Contact details for signatories

We Are Church International

Colm Holmes - Chair
https://www.we-are-church.org
E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Root & Branch

Mary Varley, for the Core Team
www.rootandbranchsynod.org
E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Council of Australasian Catholics

Eleanor Flynn, Kevin Liston - Co-chairs
https://australasiancatholics.org
E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Spirit Unbounded

Penelope Middelboe and Claus Geissendoerfer
- Administrators on behalf of 50 companions
https://spiritunbounded.org
E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Catholic Church Reform International

Rene Reid - Director
https://catholicchurchreformintl.org
E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

International Church Reform Network

Max Stetter
https://icrn.info/
E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Association of Catholic Priests

Tony Flannery CSsR – Member Leadership Team
www.associationofcatholicpriests.ie
E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Letter to the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops

Catholic Women's Council writes this document in the inescapable context of the global rise of misogyny, renewed attacks on women’s and LGBTQ rights, and growing violence against women, a reality that must guide- any discernment on family life. We pray these voices may help ensure the Church can speak to this moment and truly serve all families in their complexity.

IN many ways it is difficult to engage with the five thematic areas proposed by the Vatican in preparation for the upcoming meeting:

• • Families today: reality, beauty and challenges
  • Young people and the discovery of the vocation to marriage
  • Married life. The first years of marriage: a decisive time
  • In the difficulties of accompanying and supporting
  • Christian families as subjects of the Church's mission life:

For women, the family is both a place of profound grace and of profound risk. Far beyond “challenges”, the prevalence of violence and abuse, economic or legal dependency, cultural shaming, and uneven gender roles within the home can be traced back to. patriarchal frameworks, practices, and language that the Church too often reinforces. Instead, we ask the Church to take up the following 5 urgent realities for women in family life and as members of the Christian family:

1. 1. Androcentric frameworks;
   2. The culture of abuse within the Christian Family;
   3. Marriage and Canon Law;
   4. Sexual Education; and
   5. Diversity of Families.

 Read the Catholic Women's Council statement

Catholic churches in Europe aim to give their synodal process a more concrete direction next week in Austria. Around 180 bishops, delegates, and theologians from over 30 countries will convene in Wels from September 14 to 17. Delegations from 28 bishops' conferences, including 23 bishops and two cardinals, will discuss a roadmap for the further implementation of synodality in Europe.

Synodality is considered the most important reform project of the Catholic Church in a long time. It refers to a Church that engages in more collaborative consultation, listening, and decision-making, thereby involving the entire People of God. The reform project originated in Rome: Pope Francis (2013-2025) initiated this path with the Synod on Synodality. Following the extensive consultations in Rome, the implementation phase is now underway until 2028. This phase will demonstrate how the often abstract guiding principles can be put into practice in dioceses, parishes, and other church structures.

This is the starting point for the four-day symposium in Wels. Delegations from 28 European bishops' conferences, spanning East and West, aim to develop a common roadmap for Europe. The meeting also serves as preparation for the European Church Assembly in spring 2028, which will precede the worldwide Church Assembly in October of the same year. Among the participants are Sister Nathalie Becquart, Undersecretary of the Synod Secretariat; Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, General Rapporteur of the World Synod; and canon lawyer Myriam Wijlens, all of whom closely monitor the global Church process from Rome.

Central and Eastern Europe strongly represented

Central and Eastern Europe is strongly represented at the conference, which has 187 participants. The President of the Council of European Bishops' Conferences (CCEE), Archbishop Gintaras Grušas, comes from Lithuania, and his Vice President, Cardinal Ladislav Nemet, from Serbia. Among the moderators and speakers are also voices from Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Croatia; Ukraine is also represented in the program. Klara Csiszar, a pastoral theologian from Linz, born in Romania as part of the Hungarian minority, heads the Department of Synodality at the Catholic Private University of Linz and is a member of the CCEE's European Synodality Task Force.

What is the situation in Wels?

The symposium follows three thematic lines. The opening session focuses on baptism and liturgy as the foundations of synodal church life. The second day examines Europe's conflicts and upheavals, including war, polarization, nationalism, migration, digitalization, ecumenism, and catechesis. The third day explores structures, offices, and decision-making processes that can sustainably uphold the equal dignity and shared responsibility of all the baptized.

Among the key voices are the Prague theologian Tomáš Halík, who will give a lecture on “Listening to Europe”; the German Jesuit Christoph Theobald, who works in Paris, on the theology of baptism; and Myriam Wijlens on leadership, mission, and church structures. Conversations “in spirit,” workshops, and fishbowl discussions will connect the lectures with experiences from local churches. Finally, Csiszar and Cardinal Nemet will present the collected insights as the basis for a European “roadmap.”

Before the start of the conference, Cardinal Hollerich, Cardinal Nemet, Bishop Manfred Scheuer of Linz, and Csiszar will address the press on Monday morning in Linz. The focus will be on how local churches can practically implement synodality after the World Synod. The press conference is titled "Cultural Change in the Church? – European Church Leaders Meet in Wels."

The conference is organized by the Department of Synodality of the Catholic Private University of Linz together with the European Task Force for Synodality and under the auspices of the CCEE; the Council of European Bishops' Conferences is an association of the presidents of the Roman Catholic Bishops' Conferences in Europe and covers the entire continent from Iceland to Russia.

From Vatican News (German Original)

We Are Church International calls on the Catholic Church to change its teaching that considers homosexual tendencies to be "objectively disordered".

• Such teaching continues to fuel discrimination and supports legislation such as:
  
  Ghana’s new bill criminalising homosexuality and the promotion of LGBTQ+ activities, which has been publicly endorsed by local Catholic leaders
  
  
• Uganda’s 2023 law imposing the death penalty for certain same-sex acts has been met with silence or complicity

In many countries where LGBTQ+ rights have been established there has been a push back, particularly against trans people. Jesus treated all people as equal – without exception. Therefore it is a gospel imperative for the Church to promote the rights of all persons to enjoy fullness of life.

The Catholic Church should be a world leader calling for equality for LGBTQ+, to help parents accept their LGBTQ+ children as gifts from God equally with their other children.

The Vatican should reverse its instructions to the bishops of the world to work against civil measures that seek to protect the human rights of LGBTQ+ people.

We Are Church International will continue to work and pray for the full equality of all people (women, laity, LGBTQ+ & married persons) in our communities at grassroots levels where real reforms are taking place through listening, understanding and courageous solidarity.

Press contacts:

Colm Holmes, Chair We Are Church International
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Phone: +353 86606 3636

Dr Martha Heizer, Vice-Chair We Are Church International
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Phone: +43 650 4168500