September 26, 2019

For Immediate Release

[ German ]

International Catholic Reform Network (ICRN) supports the ongoing work in parishes that are calling women and men to prepare them to preside over the Eucharist. This includes being responsible for the pastoral care and sacramental life of their parish community as was practiced in the early Church before the institution of the ordained priesthood.

ICRN calls on the Polish Bishops to comply with Church teaching regarding LGBT people that calls all to respect the intrinsic dignity of each person in word, action, and law. Attached below is our Warsaw Statement on LGBT.

ICRN voted unanimously to support the charter on the Fundamental Rights and Responsibilities of all Catholics worldwide which obligates the entire church to respect the primacy of conscience; the equality of all Catholics in the church; freedom of expression, including the freedom to dissent; the right and responsibility to participate in a Eucharistic community and to receive responsible pastoral care; genuine participation in decision making, including the selection of their leaders; due and just process when accusations are made; protection of children, and others.

Jämställdhet för kvinnor är den kristna vägen framåt

För 25 år sedan publicerades den påvliga rundskrivelsen ORDINATIO SACERDOTALIS den 22 maj, 1994, idag mer än när den publicerades står det klart att jämställdhet för kvinnor är den kristna vägen framåt.

Den dåvarande påven Johannes Paulus II reagerade då på att den anglikanska kyrkogemenskapen öppnat prästämbetet för kvinnor redan i mars 1994 genom att fastslå som definitiv kyrkolära att endast män kunde vigas till präster i den katolska kyrkan.

Påvens argument vilade på tre premisser

•  Kyrkan saknar idag auktoritet att viga kvinnor till präster
•  Maria, Jesu moder, vigdes aldrig till präst
• Den obrutna traditionen

Idag håller inga av dessa premisser

• Kyrkan har naturligtvis evangeliets auktoritet att viga kvinnor och sluta behandla dem som andra klassens kristna
• Jesus vigde inga präster
• Kvinnor hade ledande ställningar I kyrkan under flera århundraden

Kyrkan måste ständigt reformera sig själv för att vara trogen Kristi budskap om ömsesidig kärlek och för att urskilja tidens tecken. I dagens värld står det klart att kvinnor och män är fullt jämställda i Kristus. De måste därför vara fullt jämställda också i kyrkan.

[ Swedish ]

On the 25th Anniversary of ORDINATIO SACERDOTALIS (22 May 1994) we see even more clearly that equality for women is the Christian way forward for the Catholic Church.

Pope John Paul ll reacted to the ordination of women in the Church of England in March 1994 by declaring that only men could be ordained as priests and that his judgment should be definitively held.

The argument was based on:

• The church not having the authority to ordain women
• That Mary the mother of Jesus was never ordained a priest
• Tradition

None of these arguments stands up:

• The church has the authority to ordain women and stop treating them as second class
• Jesus did not ordain anyone
• Women were leaders in the church for many centuries

The Church must constantly reform itself to remain faithful to Christ’s message to love another and to understand the signs of the times. In the world today we see more clearly than ever that women and men are fully equal in Christ. They must also be fully equal in our Church.

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We Are Church International (WAC-I) founded in Rome in 1996, is a global coalition of national church reform groups. It is committed to the renewal of the Roman Catholic Church based on the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and the theological spirit developed from it.

L’abuso sessuale da parte dei preti verso le suore nella Chiesa Cattolica:

Basta silenzio, basta coperture e basta immobilismo

Il comportamento del Vaticano e della gerarchia nei confronti delle suore  è stato sorprendente. Sono stati zitti  sul loro abuso sessuale e spirituale (violenze, prostituzione e aborti forzati)  in molti paesi ed in ogni continente per più di vent’anni e forse anche più a lungo. Il loro comportamento è stato: silenzio, copertura e immobilismo. “Qualsiasi organizzazione criminale non avrebbe potuto fare peggio” ha dichiarato Sr Véronique Margron OP, Presidente della Conferenza Francese dei religiosi  e delle  Religiose (CORREF). Spetta al popolo di Dio far ritornare  la nostra chiesa al messaggio di Cristo.

• Nel 1994 suor Maura O’Donoghue presentò un rapporto dettagliato al Vaticano basato su 6 anni di fatti in 23 paesi e 5 continenti;
• Nel 1998 suor Marie McDonald presentò un altro rapporto sull’abuso delle donne religiose da parte dei preti;
• Nel 2001 il National Catholic Reporter fece un rapporto;
• Sempre nel 2001 il Parlamento europeo chiese al Vaticano chiedendo di agire sul problema dell’abuso sessuale delle suore da parte dei preti.

Ma tutto senza successo. Solamente più silenzio, più coperture e più immobilismo. Tuttavia, negli ultimi anni donne coraggiose  hanno parlato nonostante le pressioni ricevute per rimanere in silenzio e hanno denunciato  questi comportanti vergognosi.

• Nel 2018, nel corso di una conferenza su “ Overcomig Silence – Women’s voices in the Abuse Crisis” [ Superare il silenzio – le voci delle donne sull’abuso] molte suore hanno parlato chiaramente in pubblico;
• Nel marzo 2019 il documentario “The Abuse of Female Religious , the other scandal of the church” [ L’abuso delle donne religiose, un altro scandalo della Chiesa] è stato  diffuso dalla televisione Francese e Tedesca ARTE.

E’ terribile l’elenco di abusi sessuali su suore da parte di uomini che pretendevano di essere servi di Cristo ma che erano in realtà servi della concupiscenza e del potere. Non ci deve essere più silenzio, non ci devono essere più coperture e più immobilismo. Il Popolo di Dio chiede pentimento e giustizia.

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We Are Church International (WAC-I) founded in Rome in 1996, is a global coalition of national church reform groups. It is committed to the renewal of the Roman Catholic Church based on the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and the theological spirit developed from it.

W  www.we-are-church.org

Press Release - 9 March 2019   

 Sexual Abuse of Religious Sisters by Priests in the Catholic Church:  No more silence, No more cover-ups and No more in-action.

[ Italian ]

The behaviour of the Vatican and the hierarchy towards women religious has been shocking. They have sanctioned the spiritual and sexual abuse (including rape, prostitution and forced abortions) of women religious in many countries and on every continent for over 20 years and probably much longer. Their response has been silence, cover-up and in-action. “Any criminal organization would not have done worse” said Sr Véronique Margron OP, President of the French Conference of Men and Women Religious (CORREF). It is up to the people to direct our church back to the message of Christ.