Press Release

18 November 2020.

After the Spotlight revelations in 2002 we now have the 400+ page McCarrick Report. It took 2 years to complete. Its 30 Chapters detail who-knew-what-when as Former Cardinal McCarrick was promoted again and again despite many reports of his sexual activities with seminarians.

It is clear to the world that clerical sex abuse is a systemic problem in the Roman Catholic Church, with the USA, Australia, Germany, Chile and Ireland just a few of the better known examples.

This report and the Spotlight revelations indirectly are recommendations. They call for

• More reports, for example into the founder of the Legionaries of Christ and the appointment of Bishop Barros in Chile
• A radical review of the process for appointing bishops
• The need to involve lay people in decision making

If you don’t learn from your mistakes you are bound to repeat them.

The signs are ominous: The McCarrick Report was issued without a Press Conference, without any Question & Answer session and without making a single recommendation. The German bishops wanted to bring some lay people on their visit to the Vatican and were told very clearly that lay people had no business arriving with their bishops!

Colm Holmes
Chair, We Are Church International
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M +353 86 606 3636
W www.we-are-church.org

We Are Church International (WAC) 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

Eternal rest grant  unto him.  May perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul, through the mercy of God, rest in peace and rise in glory. 

À Dieu

 – he must now act to revise teaching to allow blessings and remove hurtful language

Press Release

[ Italian ]

22 October 2020

We Are Church International warmly welcomes the wonderful news that Pope Francis supports civil unions for Same Sex couples. This is a hugely significant step for Pope Francis and the Catholic Church.

We call on Pope Francis to follow up his wonderful words with actions to introduce church blessings for Same Sex couples and to revise teaching to remove the descriptions of LGBTQ+ people as objectively disordered and their love as intrinsically evil.

Colm Holmes
Chair, We Are Church International
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M +353 86 606 3636
W www.we-are-church.org/413/

We Are Church International (WAC) 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.

Press Release

1 October 2020.

Pope Francis will travel to Assisi on the 3rd of October to sign an encyclical “Fratelli tutti” on the social, political and economic obligations that flow from a belief that all people are children of God and therefore sisters and brothers to one another. This is an important encyclical on social justice for our post Covid world. Yet sadly Pope Francis is undermining his important message by choosing the sexist title “Fratelli tutti”

Pope Francis was elected 7 years ago. His first words to the huge crowd in front of Saint Peter’s were: “Fratelli e sorelle! Buonasera!” And they were greeted with a great cheer, especially from the many women present. So why does he now revert to a very old fashioned “Fratelli tutti” which in 2020 most certainly does not include “sorelle”?

We support the Catholic Women’s Council’s call for Pope Francis to change the title of his encyclical to include “sorelle”.

 Colm Holmes
Chair, We Are Church International
E This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
M +353 86 606 3636
W www.we-are-church.org

We Are Church International (WAC) 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.

Fratelli Tutti

An encyclical for all brothers and sisters

„Eindringlicher Appell zur Umkehr - auch an die eigene Kirche“

Response from Noi Siamo Chiesa

Communiqué de presse

Le Père Tony Flannery et la Congrégation pour la Doctrine de la Foi, Le Vatican (CDF)

25 septembre 2020

En 2012, le père Tony Flannery a été sanctionné par la CDF pour la publication d'articles sur l'ordination des femmes, la prêtrise et les personnes LGBTQ +. Depuis lors, il a été démis de son ministère. Mais, depuis la désignation du Pape François, le dialogue sur bon nombre de ces questions est largement facilité. Donc, au début de 2020, le P. Flannery a, par l’intermédiaire de son Ordre Rédemptoriste, fait appel afin d’être autorisé à réintégrer son ministère. La CDF a donné son accord pour une réadmission progressive du Père Flannery dans son ministère à condition qu’il s’engage sur 4 principes (1) Pas d'ordination sacerdotale pour les femmes (2) Les pratiques homosexuelles sont contraires à la loi naturelle (3) Pas de mariages homosexuels (4) La théorie du genre n'est pas acceptable.

Au début de la semaine, le chef de la CDF, le cardinal Ladaria, a déclaré: « Nous avons fait tout notre possible pour dialoguer avec le père Flannery. Cela n’a pas toujours été facile. Nous avons fait tout ce qui était possible. […] Nous avons toujours tenté de traiter le Père Flannery avec respect.»

«Non seulement je n'ai parlé à personne à la CDF », a déclaré le père Flannery, « mais à aucun moment ils n'ont communiqué directement avec moi.»

Le cardinal Ladaria a une approche différente de ce que veut dire «dialoguer », qui signifie généralement parler directement à la personne. Et faire preuve de « respect » envers le Père Flannery n'impliquait pas de l'informer de l'enquête initiale de la CDF ou de lui permettre de se défendre.

Les procédés utilisés par la CDF aujourd'hui restent les mêmes que sous les papes Jean-Paul II et Benoît XVl : dénonciations secrètes ; procès secrets ; aucune possibilité pour les accusés de se défendre ; sanctions appliquées avec sévérité. Cela est contraire à l'Evangile et constitue une violation des droits humains fondamentaux. C'est un scandale qui jette le discrédit sur la direction de l'Eglise et constitue un obstacle à l'évangélisation.

We Are Church soutient totalement le Père Flannery dont la sanction infligée par la CDF a privé notre Eglise du ministère d'un prêtre dévoué et très aimé. La CDF n'est pas adaptée à sa mission et doit être réformée de toute urgence.

Colm Holmes
Président de We Are Church International
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