All over the world public worship is ceasing due to the Coronavirus pandemic. We Are Church members are praying and celebrating their union with Jesus in their homes or making videos so others, who may be in isolation, may join them.
Austria
The Netherlands
12 February 2020.
Querida Amazonia, Pope Francis’ official response to the Amazon Synod, demonstrates that the Roman Catholic hierarchy lacks the courage and vision needed to address the real needs of the world and its people, says We Are Church International, a leading advocate for structural change in the largest Christian denomination.
Colm Holmes of Ireland, Chair of We Are Church International praised the Pope for his “wonderful dreams for social, cultural and ecological issues in the Amazon.” Holmes said, “We agree with the Pope that our church has significant responsibility for promoting immediate and significant changes in how the earth’s resources and the lives and cultures of indigenous people are protected. We urge all people to live in ways that reflect good stewardship of our planet, and the fact we are all one human family.”
Rome - 23-25 January, 2020
Catholics from 5 continents and different areas such as universities, religious orders, associations, initiatives, journalism as well as theologians, volunteers, reform activists and pastoral workers in church service, came together last week in Rome to bring together decades of commitment to equal dignity and equal rights for women in the Catholic Church worldwide.
Catholic women of women's associations, initiatives, women religious orders and church bodies from Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland came together over the weekend to network for the very first time.The global initiative Voices of Faith had invited the key figures to Stuttgart from 1 to 3 November 2019.
The women's network agreed that in view of the catastrophic church crisis, urgently needed reforms must now be tackled.
The network agrees with Doris Wagner's statement that we women urgently need to stop supporting violent structures. The effective participation of women is needed now, so that vulnerable and wounded people and the mortally threatened creation can once again be at the centre of church commitment. "We women no longer have time to wait. We stand up together and do our utmost to ensure that the church has a future: life-friendly and women-friendly. We call on all women: Use your positive power for change!" said Chantal Götz, Managing Director of Voices of Faith.
At this first meeting, the network identified key issues and gave working groups authority and confidence to work on these issues to overcome internal church blockages. Some of these issues discussed were: Sacrament theology and office structure, criteria and transparency in episcopal ordinations and appointments, symbolic order and vulnerability.
The network also agreed: We urgently need an international meeting at world church level. The participants empower Voices of Faith, with the support of the networks mentioned below, to take the organisation of this meeting into their own hands.