We Are Church International joins Catholics and other people around the world in its horror at the revelations in the recently released Grand Jury report on clergy sexual abuse and cover up in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. We express our solidarity with the victims, survivors, and their families in their quest for justice and consolation. We call on the leaders of our Church to ensure that its response to this report is humble acceptance of the Grand Jury’s recommendations, and, at long last, to take the steps needed to demonstrate that they are committed to atoning for the grievous harm that has been done, and to creating more transparent and accountable structures.

Specifically, We Are Church International calls on Catholic leadership to:

• Open all files regarding sexual abuse at the Vatican, national bishops’ conference, and diocesan levels to review bypeople with expertise in analyzing them
• Remove all bishops who reassigned sexually abusivepriests from their leadershippositions and ensure that future bishops have never facilitated abuse
• Immediately cease efforts to block the lengthening or eradication of statutes of limitations on sexual abuse of minors
• Provide payment for counseling and financial compensation to anyone bringing forth any allegation(s) of sexual abuse by church staff that is deemed credible by an independent panel of expert reviewers
• Develop a process of public reconciliation, based on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, where victims and survivors of abuse can speak out to church leaders
• Ensure that anyone still eligible for criminal prosecution of abuse or obstruction of justice is made available to civil authorities
• Develop panels of laity to review and respond to all complaints of sexual abuse
• Make individual apologies to every victim and affected family

Only by dismantling the systems that facilitated this abuse and cover up for so long will Church officials be able to begin to demonstrate that they are serious about repentance and ensuring that children remain safe and whole.

We Are Church International recommits ourselves to stand with the survivors of clergy sexual abuse, and to working for the justice they so clearly deserve.

Contact: Marianne Duddy-Burke, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +1 617 669-7810

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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.

Indian Christian Women’s Movement 1st National Convention ‘Women Take Wing’

PRESS RELEASE 13th August, 2018

About 100 women including nuns and ordained women from churches all over India strongly condemned the weak institutional response of the church to gender violence faced by women in the Church.

The women were attending the first National Convention of the Indian Christian Women’s Movement (ICWM) at Jnanadeepa Vidyapeeth, Pune, on the theme ‘Women take Wing’.

In her keynote address, Prof. Vibhuti Patel, Advanced Center for Women’s Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, traced the history of Indian women’s movement and the importance and relevance of ICWM in this larger context.

The delegates, cutting across age, region and Christian denomination expssed dissatisfaction at the lack of voice, role and decision making for women in Church structures, and declared their determination to struggle for justice equality, dignity and rights for women, children, Dalits, Tribals, Transgender people and LGBQIA.

They resolved to work together to enhance women’s participation, representation, decision making in the Church and related structures.

In the new normal of sexual violence and polarization in the country, and the abuse of women’s and children’s bodies to settle political and communal scores, the ICWM resolved to partner and work in solidarity with civil society groups and movements in the ongoing battle for justice for survivors and their families.

Noella D’Souza
Convenor, ICWM

Virginia Saldanha
Secretary, ICWM

July 25, 2018.

On the 50^th anniversary of the promulgation of Humanae Vitae, We Are Church-International dedicate their commemoration of this milestone to all of the Catholics who have challenged the legitimacy of official teaching and honored their own consciences in making decisions about contraception and other important moral issues. We Are Church-International celebrates the integrity of all those who contribute to the Sensus Fidelium (“the sense of the Faithful”) in determining whether a teaching is truly inspired by the Holy Spirit, and therefore legitimate.

“Over the past 50 years, billions of Catholics have read or been taught what Humanae Vitae says about the use of contraception, and the vast majority, after careful consideration, have rejected this teaching,” said Colm Holmes, Chair of We Are Church-International. “Most have done so while believing they remain good Catholics. In doing so, they have asserted a new level of authority in our Church. We believe this is the real significance of this anniversary.”

Recent statements by Pope Francis and top Vatican officials support the need to bring more lay women to top leadership positions at the Roman Curia. However, Voices of Faith is concerned about the apparent difficulties and lack of transparency in regard to how those women are chosen and the process undertaken to appoint them. In an extensively quoted interview with Reuters on June 17th 2018, Pope Francis is reported saying, “I don't have any problem naming a woman as the head of a dicastery." At the same time, he talks about difficulties in finding the right candidates and convincing curial officials to accept women for leadership positions. The Prefect of the Dicastery of Laity, Family and Life, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, stated that the Vatican is "overloaded with clerics" and that "administrative functions within the church can be done by anybody" including laity.

Today, Thursday 7th June We Are Church Ireland is launching a petition calling on Pope Francis to change Vatican theological language that is gravely insulting to LGBTQI people.

Words like 'objectively disordered ' and ' intrinsically evil' to describe any human being is wrong but for an institution like the Catholic Church to teach that these words are an expression of the mind of God to describe her image in LGBTQI persons is not alone scandalous but blasphemous.

The petition is being launched by Ursula Halligan of WAC Ireland, Senator David Norris and Pádraig Ó Tuama of the Corrymeela Community.

Find the petition on Change.org at:

https://www.change.org/p/info-dublindiocese-ie-pope-francis-change-church-lgbtqi-language?recruiter=16658031&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition

'We Are Church Ireland encourages every Catholic who continues to be enraged by this Vatican Un-Christian language to sign the petition demanding the withdrawal of this offensive language to describe our LGBTQI sisters and brothers' stated Brendan Butler.

Brendan Butler, We are Church spokesperson.
Mobile 086 4054984
7 June 2018