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SUN OF JUSTICE, RISE UP IN OUR TIME. 
SHINE INTO YOUR PEOPLE 
THAT THE WORLD MAY HEAR YOU. 
BE MERCIFUL, O GOD.

Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW) celebrates the feast of St. Mary Magdalene (22 July) with the launch of Dr. Annette Esser’s beautiful original painting, "Longing for the Sun of Justice." The painting symbolizes women’s calling to priesthood, not granted by men in the church, but through Christ.

The painting shows two dissimilar hands varied in shape and color, joining together to resemble a chalice, illuminated by a blazoned sun in the place of a host along a horizon. You may also notice a small cross in the middle of the sun. Made whole and Holy by one another, the hands are united in the Sun, in Christ. 

WOW reaffirms our call for the institutional Church to rid itself of the sin of sexism and model unconditional equality by opening up all ministries to Catholic women who have the talent and vocation to serve their communities as St. Mary Magdalene did.

On the Feast of the "Apostle to the Apostles," we are reminded that Mary Magdalene followed Jesus' call to go and tell the Good News of the Resurrection, inspiring women for centuries to answer God's call to preach, minister, and live the Gospel message of equality.
 
Artist:  © Annette Esser, Oil and Gold on Canvas, 40x50cm (2017)

To purchase a signed print on canvas in the original size (40 x 50 cm) for 120 Euro, shipping included contact the WOW Leadership Circle. 

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13 luglio 2017

All of is in We Are Church, especially in Italy, share great emotion, friendship and prayers as Giovanni ascends to the Father.

[ English ]

 Il nostro fratello e padre Giovanni Franzoni, a 88 anni,  è andato in Paradiso questa mattina dopo una vita densa di fede nell’Evangelo e di opere. Giovane abate dell’abbazia benedettina di  S.Paolo a Roma,  ha cercato di dare attuazione al nuovo corso della Chiesa cattolica dopo il Concilio Vaticano II , a cui aveva partecipato. Si scontrò però con la pesantezza del sistema ecclesiastico  che resisteva al cambiamento. Negli anni settanta la sua forzata separazione dalle strutture canoniche ha coinciso con un suo accresciuto impegno perché la comunità dei credenti fosse sempre più fondata sulla centralità della Parola di Dio, sul protagonismo dei suoi membri e su un rapporto laico con le istituzioni e con la società civile.

Franzoni ha così partecipato da protagonista ai vari percorsi che nella Chiesa si sono impegnati per il rinnovamento del modo di vivere l’Evangelo, dal movimento delle Comunità cristiane di base, ai Cristiani per il Socialismo fino alla Teologia della Liberazione. In particolare, è stato il fondatore e l’animatore fino ad oggi della Comunità di base di S.Paolo di Roma. La sua libertà ed indipendenza di giudizio si sono manifestate , in particolare, quando si è espresso, in modo molto argomentato, contro la canonizzazione di papa Wojtyla, facendosi portavoce di un’opinione diffusa ma senza risonanza mediatica.   .

I difficili rapporti tra Franzoni e la sua abbazia di un tempo si sono normalizzati quando il 10 ottobre dell’anno scorso  l’attuale abate di S.Paolo dom Roberto Dotta e il Card. James Michael Harvey , arciprete della basilica, hanno visitato la sede della Cdb di S.Paolo, ascoltando informazioni sulle opere sociali che vi sono svolte e leggendo insieme brani della  prima lettera ai Corinzi (12, 4-14, 26-27) dove si dice che “vi è diversità di doni, ma vi è un medesimo Spirito. Vi è diversità di ministeri, ma non v’è che un medesimo Signore”. Questo incontro non ha però significato una piena “riabilitazione” di Giovanni da parte delle massime autorità della Chiesa, come era stato ripetutamente richiesto.

Giovanni ha sopportato, con  cristiana pazienza e con l’aiuto dei membri della sua comunità, la perdita della vista negli ultimi anni, fatto che gli ha reso faticosa una maggiore partecipazione ai  fermenti che si muovono ora nella Chiesa con papa Francesco. Tutte e tutti di Noi Siamo Chiesa partecipiamo con grande emozione, amicizia e preghiera alla salita al padre di Giovanni.

Roma, 13 luglio 2017                         NOI SIAMO CHIESA

Giovanni Franzoni is in Paradise

Our brother and father Giovanni Franzoni, aged 88, went to Heaven this morning after a life of faith steeped in the gospel and religious charity. As a young Abbot of the Benedictine abbey of St. Paul in Rome, he tried to implement the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, which he had attended. But he clashed with the weight of the ecclesiastical system that was resistant to change. In the seventies he was forced to separate from the canonical structures. Thereafter he increased commitment to develop a community of believers increasingly based on the centrality of the Word of God, on the social justice activity of its members and on a lay relationship with institutions and with civil society.

Franzoni has thus played a leading role in the various paths that the Church has committed itself to in renewing the living the Gospel: the movement of the basic Christian communities, the Christians for Socialism and the Libertation Theology. Especially he was the founder and animator until his death of the base community of S.Paolo of Rome. His liberty and independence of judgment manifested itself in particular when he argued, in a highly arguing way, against the canonization of Pope Wojtyla, making him a spokesman for widespread opposition in the media .

The difficult relationships between Franzoni and his abbey were normalized when October 10 last year the current abbot of St. Paul dom Roberto Dotta and Cardinal James Michael Harvey, archbishop of the basilica, visited the home of the Community of base of St. Paul. They listened to accounts of the social works that are being performed there and read together passages from the first letter to the Corinthians (12, 4-14, 26-27) where it is said that "There is diversity of gifts, but there is a same Spirit. There is diversity of ministries, but there is only one Lord. " However, this encounter did not mean a full "rehabilitation" of Giovanni by the highest authority of the Church, as was repeatedly requested.

Giovanni has endured, with Christian patience and with the help of members of his community. His loss of sight in recent years has not deterred his hard work in supporting the currents moving in the Church under Pope Francis. All of is in We Are Church, especially in Italy, share great emotion, friendship and prayers as Giovanni ascends to the Father.

Rome, July 13, 2017 NOI SIAMO CHIESA

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REDES CRISTIANAS's (Christian Networks) 

(Redes Cristianas is a platform constituted by 200 grassroots Catholic  groups, communities and movements in the Spanish State)

(Update of  document of the same name, published in 2008  by Redes Cristianas)

[ Spanish ]

Redes Cristianas is strongly committed to the independence, mutual respect and collaboration between the State and religious denominations and advocates a secular state that cancels the current covert confessionalism in favour of a Church solely inspired by the Gospel and not subject to any State interference.

Conscious that the current Church / State relationship in Spain, based on the Agreements of 1979, has been the main obstacle to separating the two and is currently generating a major discontent in many sectors, whether Catholic or otherwise, Redes Cristianas  openly expresses its commitment to secularism and invites all those institutions and individuals motivated by this democratic objective to work together to actively collaborate to build a secular State.

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Noi Siamo Chiesa - Milano, 7 luglio 2017

Comunicato stampa

Questa volta papa Francesco ha scelto l’ordinaria amministrazione con la nomina di Mons. Mario Delpini ad arcivescovo di Milano. Ci permettiamo di dissentire dalla sua decisione. Avevamo chiesto un vescovo di svolta, non siamo stati ascoltati come tanti altri che, in diocesi, speravano che , dall’esterno, arrivasse un soffio nuovo, necessario nella situazione attuale della cattolicità ambrosiana.

Ci permettiamo di indicare i punti che, insieme ad altri, riteniamo qualificanti, anzi necessari per la diocesi :

• ripresa , senza ambiguità e senza troppi silenzi, delle caratteristiche del magistero del Card. Martini, che non sono scomparse ma che si sono molto appannate negli ultimi quindici anni. In particolare sottolineiamo: Parola di Dio al centro di tutta la vita ecclesiale, ecumenismo non di facciata, rapporto sereno e positivo con la cultura laica, impegno generalizzato a favore degli “ultimi”, posizione di ricerca sui nuovi problemi etici, lontana dalle ricorrenti campagne promosse o avvallate dalla CEI;
• contrasto esplicito e generalizzato nei confronti delle tendenze presenti nella cultura e nella società fondate sui valori mondani del denaro e dell’immagine, sulla volontà, di stampo leghista, di esclusione dello straniero e del diverso, sulla disaffezione dalla politica;
• apertura a tutte le realtà laicali, comprese quelle fuori dal coro del conformismo ecclesiastico, perché diano un contributo, non subalterno, ai diversi problemi della diocesi, in particolare alla soluzione di quelli derivanti dalla mancanza di clero.

Auspichiamo vivamente che Mons. Delpini, con questa maggiore responsabilità, sappia prescindere, almeno in parte, dal suo passato tutto interno al mondo ecclesiastico milanese e a ruoli non direttamente pastorali e diventare espressione di discontinuità. Se si andrà in questa direzione riceverà consensi da tanti che aspettano che il Concilio Vaticano II e il suo spirito siano il vero punto di riferimento per un generale rinnovamento ecclesiale.

Infine facciamo una proposta: all’inizio di questo nuovo episcopato si organizzi subito per un necessario periodo di tempo (per esempio tre mesi) una consultazione collettiva e generalizzata (comprensiva di tutti i soggetti ecclesiali, clero, laici uomini e donne, religiosi, che siano anche in ascolto, quando necessario, delle altre confessioni cristiane e della stessa cultura laica) per individuare i principali problemi pastorali della diocesi e per indicare proposte concrete, almeno iniziali e provvisorie, perché essi siano affrontati al meglio. Il nuovo vescovo si faccia guidare e guidi questo possibile nuovo momento straordinario di riflessione prima di iniziare il suo episcopato

Vittorio Bellavite
Coordinatore di Noi Siamo Chiesa
Noi Siamo Chiesa
Via Soperga 38
20127 Milano
cell.3331309765

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Por que isto é importante

[ English ]

Click image to add your signature

Somos cristãos e cristãs e igualmente gentes de todos os credos e caminhadas, de todos os gêneros, raças, cores, cheiros, brasileiros até o fundo d’alma, mesmo que alguns e algumas de nós não tenhamos nascido nesta terra‐caldeirão.

Reunimo‐nos neste texto para proclamar: estamos ao lado do Papa Francisco, por uma Igreja em saída, por um mundo que promova a cultura do encontro e não a rotina do descarte, por uma humanidade que acolha os mais pobres, frágeis, os sem teto, sem terra, sem comida, sem nada, em vez de tratá‐los como lixo.

Escrevemos para apoiar o Papa no contexto da crise político‐econômica do Brasil, dominado por um governo dos ricos, nascido de um golpe de Estado, com um projeto de destruição dos direitos trabalhistas, previdenciários e outros, com ataques seguidos aos pobres do campo e das cidades, especialmente aos mais vulneráveis, crianças, velhos e velhas, indígenas, mulheres, negros e negras, lésbicas, gays, bissexuais, travestis, transexuais e transgêneros.

Sentimo‐nos convocados e convocadas por Francisco para estar com os pequenos e pequenas do Mestre.

Levantamo‐nos, ao lado do Papa, contra a intenção manifesta de um fechamento eclesial que pretende transformar a primavera florescente de hoje no retorno à longa noite invernal. As posições assumidas por quatro cardeais restauracionistas e seus seguidores, que acusaram o Papa numa carta pública de “causar confusão doutrinal em relação a assuntos‐chave da doutrina católica” são a expressão de uma visão de Igreja que atenda a projetos de poder, dominação e controle sobre as pessoas.

Insurgem‐se os quatro cardeais e seus simpatizantes contra a Exortação Apostólica Pós‐Sinodal “Sobre o Amor na Família” (Amoris Laetitia), especialmente contra o direito de divorciados e divorciadas em segunda união partilharem da Comunhão Eucarística, baseados em falsos pressupostos de fundo moral e teológico que não encontram sustentação no melhor da tradição da Igreja. O Papa, no seguimento das pegadas do Manso e Humilde, vê diversidade e ocasião de acolhimento onde os olhos da censura enxergam apenas diferença e motivos de separação e exclusão.

Aos poucos, depois de anos de congelamento, a Igreja no Brasil retoma sua caminhada pastoral, profética e popular. Queremos muito mais. Não negamos o direito de livre expressão de pensamento de quem quer que seja. Afirmamos com desassombro, entretanto, que o explícito ou implícito apoio de segmentos da hierarquia a esses cardeais é um ataque à eclesiologia do Papa e do Vaticano II, que definiu a Igreja como Povo de Deus em movimento, muito além dos limites clericais. Não é mera coincidência o fato de os membros da Igreja que sustentam os cardeais rebelados sejam também aderidos ao golpe de Estado no Brasil e aos ataques aos direitos dos mais pobres.

Ao apoiar o Papa Francisco, deixamos explícitos alguns posicionamento que, entendemos, fazem dos cristãos e cristãs em todo o planeta uma Igreja em saída.

Defendemos:

1. a inclusão universal de todos os cristãos e cristãs à cidadania na comunidade eclesial mediante os sacramentos;
2. o sacerdócio ministerial celibatário opcional;
3. a criação de um organismo consultivo especial de mulheres ligadas ao Colégio de Cardeais para oportunizar mais espaço para a liderança feminina na Igreja;
4. o fechamento dos seminários maiores e retorno às casas de formação presbiteral;
5. a nomeação de bispos “com cheiro das ovelhas”, na expressão do Papa, sem interferência da Nunciatura Apostólica;
6. o estímulo e apoio da CNBB às Comunidades Eclesiais de Base (as CEB’s);
7. a convergência da Igreja com os movimentos sociais, no espírito dos três Encontros Mundiais dos Movimentos Populares convocados pelo Papa.

Como “Igreja – Povo de Deus – em Movimento” (IPDM), abaixo assinamos.

‐ Igreja Povo de Deus em Movimento (IPDM);
‐ Conselho Indigenista Missionário (CIMI);
‐ Comissão Pastoral da Terra (CPT);
‐ Serviço Inter Franciscano de Justiça, Paz e Ecologia (SINFRAJUPE);
‐ Rede Ecumênica da Juventude (REJU)
‐ Centro de Capacitação das Juventudes (CCJ);
‐ Nós Somos a Igreja – São Paulo;
‐ Pastoral Fé e Política São Paulo;

Pessoas

‐ Pe. Paulo Sérgio Bezerra, articulador IPDM.
‐ Pe. Ticão, articulador IPDM.
‐ Eduardo Brasileiro, articulador IPDM.
‐ Frei Betto, frade dominicano e escritor.
‐ Marcelo Barros, teólogo. ‐ Mauro Lopes, jornalista e escritor.
‐ Moema Miranda, antropóloga IBASE.
‐ Flavio Irala, bispo anglicano, presidente do CAMI (Centro de Apoio e Pastoral do Migrante)
‐ Chico Whitaker,
‐ Stella Whitaker.
‐ Ermínia Maricato, professora USP.
‐ Frei José Fernandes, OP, vice coordenador da Comissão Dominicana de Justiça e Paz do Brasil.
‐ Thiesco Crisóstomo, militante da Pastoral da Juventude e liderança das Cebs na Diocese de Marabá.
‐ Aline Ogliari, secretária nacional da Pastoral da Juventude.
‐ João Paulo Medeiros, Assessor Comissão Pastoral da Terra (CPT).
‐ Rosemary Fernandes da Costa, educadora e teóloga.
‐ Franklin Félix, educador popular e Espíritas Pelos Direitos Humanos.
‐ Andreia Alves, educadora popular Centro Social Nossa Senhora do Bom Parto.
‐ Igor Bastos, Juventude Franciscana (JUFRA) e Movimento Católico Global Pelo Clima. ‐ Monica Lopes, Pastoral Fé e Política.
‐ Benedito Prezia, Pastoral Indigenista.
‐ Pe. Antônio Ferreira Naves, Comissão Pastoral da Terra São Paulo.
‐ Pe. Júlio Lancelotti, vigário do povo da rua Arquidiocese de São Paulo

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Presseaussendung von Wir sind Kirche-Österreich am 3. Juli 2017

Wir sind Kirche-Österreich fordert die Diözese Innsbruck auf, sich das Recht auf die Ernennung eines Bischofs “zurückzuholen”. Es war lange Praxis der Kirche, “dass von allen gewählt werden muss, wer allen vorzustehen hat” (Papst Coelestin und Papst Leo der Große). Erst seit dem 9. Jahrhundert griffen Päpste in die Besetzung von Bischofsstühlen ein, und auch dann nur, wenn die Bischofswahl strittig war und sie darum gebeten wurden.

“Wir sind Kirche” hat schon 1995 eine detaillierte Vorgangsweise erarbeitet, wie der Wille der KirchenbürgerInnen ermittelt werden kann und wie eine demokratische Wahl durchführbar wäre: ausgehend von den Pfarrgemeinden bis zu einem Diözesankonklave, das dann aus einem sorgfältig erarbeiteten Dreiervorschlag wählt. Dann wäre das Einvernehmen zwischen Papst und Bischofskonferenz herzustellen. Die Ablehnung eines Kandidaten allerdings wäre begründungspflichtig und würde zu einer Wiederholung des Diözesankonklaves führen.

Die derzeitige Praxis widerspricht der biblischen Tradition (Wahl des Apostels Matthias), dem kircheneigenen Subsidiaritätsprinzip und dem Grundsatz, dass Betroffene in Entscheidungen eingebunden werden sollen. Die kirchliche Hintertreppendiplomatie ist inakzeptabel für demokratiegewohnte Gläubige. Das Verfahren ist intransparent, es gibt kein Mitspracherecht darüber, was mit dem Dreiervorschlag passiert, die Ergebnisverkündigung erfolgt unvorhersehbar. Das Ergebnis ist naheliegend: die Akzeptanz durch das Kirchenvolk muss sich der Ernannte erst erarbeiten.

Papst Franziskus hat wiederholt die Ortskirche zu mehr Eigenverantwortlichkeit aufgefordert. Dafür fehlt leider oft der Mut.

Für die Plattform „Wir sind Kirche“-Österreich:
Dr. Martha Heizer, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., 0650 4168500
Mag. Petra Schäffer, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., 0664/5610273

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PRESS RELEASE 2 July 2017

[ Spanish ]

We Are Church International welcome the appointment of Archbishop Luis Ladaria SJ as the new Head of the CDF hoping he will introduce transparency, justice and compassion in the CDF. The decision on a change at the top of the CDF is also seen as progress in reform of the curia. Nevertheless We Are Church International states: “The Vatican curia devotes too much energy to protect and preserve institutional power. This will only change when there is a full blossoming of laypeople and especially women’s involvement in the church and its mission. Substantive change in our Church is urgently needed.” We are Church international calls on the new prefect to rescind all sanctions against theologians as a sign of a new era of justice in the Church and to open and support the vivid exchange on theological positions without ban of thinking.

We Are Church International called for the replacement of Cardinal Müller as the Head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) on 6 March 2017. Cardinal Müller supported the conservative curia who are fighting to retain power and control and are blocking reforms by Pope Francis to make our church more compassionate in the image of Christ.

Cardinal Müller –

• Refused the request from the Pontifical Abuse Commission that all letters from survivors should receive a reply
• Refused to allow a tribunal to be set up to investigate and censure bishops regarding covering up sexual abuse
• Refused to change the processes it uses for investigating priests & religious which are unjust and in breach of natural justice
• Refused to support the changes for divorced and remarried receiving communion based on Pope Francis’ Amoris Laetitia

Sigrid Grabmeier, Chair of We Are Church International, said, “It is logical for Pope Francis not to extend the five-year term of office of Cardinal Gerhard Müller. Cardinal Müller has repeatedly set himself up as a teacher of the Pope through his teachings and interpretations of the Papacy, most recently in his book ‘The Pope’. A change in the CDF also represents a valuable opportunity for reorientation for the important task of the prosecution of sexual violence by priests."

###

Contact: Sigrid Grabmeier, We Are Church International, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.;

Tel +49 991 - 2979585   Cell/Mobile +49 170 - 8626290  

We Are Church International, 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.

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PRESS RELEASE  1 July 2017

Can the Vatican be reformed?

After the Vatican’s first ever Auditor General, Libero Milone, has resigned suddenly, We Are Church International asks if the Vatican can at all be reformed in a slow step-by-step way. The former Head of Deloitte in Italy was just 2 years into his 5 year term to audit the Vatican’s finances. No reason was given for his sudden departure. The search for his replacement has just begun. It appears that the curia in the Vatican have managed to dump any financial reforms:

• While more than 40 cases of alleged impropriety have been flagged by the Vatican’s Financial Information Authority for investigation, not a single prosecution has been pushed through by the Vatican’s justice system
• Only 20% of Peter’s Pence collected around the world goes to help the poor - the rest is used to fund the Vatican curia.

In addition, Papal adviser Cardinal George Pell has been forced to take an immediate leave of absence from his Vatican duties to defend against charges of sexual abuse. This is happening just weeks after a key member of the Commission charged with overseeing reform in this area resigned in frustration with the barriers the Commission faced.

It appears that much more drastic action is required. We Are Church International  call on Pope Francis to set up an Ecumenical Council for a major reform of church structures to introduce synodal structures with the full involvement of the people of God. This Ecumenical Council could be held in Brazil – but certainly not in the Vatican.

Sigrid Grabmeier, Chair of We Are Church International, said, “The Vatican curia devotes to much energy to protect and preserve institutional power. This will only change when there is a full blossoming of laypeople and especially women’s involvement in the church and its mission. Substantive change in our Church is urgently needed.”

###

Contact: Sigrid Grabmeier, We Are Church International, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Tel +49 991 - 2979585   Cell/Mobile +49 170 - 8626290  

We Are Church International, 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.

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Catholic Women's Ordination held their customary prayer vigil
outside Westminster Cathedral, London,
on Vocations Sunday, 7 Mary 2017.

In their latest newsletter they write:

In our 21st century democracy, so celebrated by Pope Francis, we must challenge our lack of freedom of speech in the Church.

At Westminster Piazza, on Vocations Sunday on 7th May, CWO

• were warned off the Cathedral steps,
• and told that we could not receive Communion, because we ask for women’s ordination and equal treatment as people.

‘Ordinatio Sacerdotalis’ still prevails. We may not speak out against its injustice and inaccuracy, despite its widespread condemnation by theologians.

Does not the hierarchy understand

• that we love the Church, and wish only to serve it fully, equal in every way to the men who are allowed to do so?
• That we are the Church’s friends, and its future?

Why may we not speak?

Mary Ring, Editor

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

http://catholic-womens-ordination.org.uk/

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We Are Church - Austria invited people to wear a red scarf or other red garment on Pentecost Sunday and take a picture before the church door.  People in other countries joined in.  We hear too that wearing red on Pentecost Sunday happens in the USA.

Next year - How about you!

"The Holy Spirit lives among us - not only at the altar"

01/18 

   

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Dear WAC Ireland and We Are Church around the world,

Happy Pentecost greetings!

We are pleased to share our latest newsletter with you.

Blessings and best wishes for Pentecost and the summer,

Colm Holmes
Core Group Member 

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On the 25th of February 2017 letters were posted addressed to each of the 29 bishops of Ireland signed by representatives of 3 organisations:

• We Are Church Ireland
• Association of Catholics In Ireland
• Association of Catholic Priests

The letters asked each bishop to publish their Ad Limina report which they had sent to Pope Francis. The Ad Limina report is a 5 yearly report to the pope about each diocese.

• None of the 4 Archbishops (Armagh, Dublin, Cashel and Tuam) replied
• 19 bishops did not reply
• Only 6 bishops replied:
  • Bishop William Crean of Cloyne
  • Bishop John Fleming of Killala
  • Bishop Donal McKeown of Derry
  • Bishop Fintan Monahan of Killaloe
  • Bishop Denis Nulty of Kildare & Leighlin
  • Administrator Mgr Michael Ryan of Ossory

We thank the 6 who replied, indeed some replied in some detail, which was appreciated. But the consensus of the replies was that the Ad Limina reports are considered CONFIDENTIAL and for the pope alone. Yet Pope Francis has been calling for greater transparency and a greater involvement of the people of God in every aspect of our church. Sadly the Irish bishops behave more like managers of a multinational with all reporting going upwards.

An Australian bishop speaking at the Royal Commission made this important point:

“I think we really need to examine seriously that kind of model of Church where it promotes the superiority of the ordained and it facilitates that power imbalance between the ordained and the non-ordained, which in turn facilitates that attitude of clericalism, if you like.“ – Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen (21 February 2017)

We call on our bishops to have the courage to follow Pope Francis and engage fully with all the people of God.

Brendan Butler
Phil Dunne
Colm Holmes
Gina Menzies
Bernadette O’Reilly
Finbarr Quigley
Core Group of We Are Church Ireland

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by J A Dick in Another Voice

April 20, 2017
Reform-minded people need to change their conversation about church reform. Otherwise they end up either talking to themselves or simply repeating what everyone else has been saying for the past ten years. Changing the conversation means looking at church life in new ways and developing new strategies and patterns for church life today and tomorrow. It means thinking creatively and asking challenging and deeper questions….

Some proposals for refection: 

(1)   Look less at the church as institution and more as a community of faith. What is happening within your own community of faith? What are the life-issues that really concern your family and friends? Where do you find your support? How can you motivate and help the men and women in your community to truly minister to each other? What is keeping us from experimenting with new forms of parish and parish life? Perhaps a parish should be a collection of many smaller communities of faith? Household churches in which the heads of the households – men and women — preside over informal Eucharistic liturgies, as in the Apostolic era?

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PDF  [ Part 1 and 2 ]   [ Part 3 and 4 ]

A People not a Pyramid
  Christianity: Leadership in a Society of Equals
Part I
One of the most significant shifts in theological thinking resulting from the Second Vatican Council was the movement away from the stratified, hierarchical model of Church to a reclaimed ecclesiology of the People of God. It had a decisive influence in the way that Catholic women and men conceived of the way they related to one another first and foremost as sisters and brothers in a community of equals and not as members of a highly structured organisation in which everyone ‘knows their place’. The Council also invited the Catholics to embrace their calling to evangelise the modern world from within and to conduct themselves as honest citizens of the human community in a spirit of decency,  confidence and hopefulness. (Gaudium et Spes, # 1)

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PDF  [ Part 1 and 2 ]   [ Part 3 and 4 ]

A People not a Pyramid
Christianity: Leadership in a Society of Equals
Part II

A Ghetto Church and the problem of nostalgia

 One of the last defenders of the immutability of the Church’s doctrine was Pius X the next to last of the militant anti-modernists. In his 1907 Encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis the Pope condemned Modernism as a pernicious internal threat to the Church’s orthodoxy and orthopraxis. He charged that the Modernists erroneously taught that “ecclesiastical government requires reformation in all its branches, but especially in its disciplinary and dogmatic parts  …  a share in ecclesiastical government should therefore be given to the lower ranks of the clergy and even to the laity, and authority be decentralized. The Roman Congregations, especially the Congregations of the Index and the Holy Office, are to be reformed.”  Modernism in the mind of Pius X was “the synthesis of all heresies.”

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A People not a Pyramid

Christianity: Leadership in a Society of Equals. Part III.  

Tipping points

“The agenda for the promised 2020 synod of the Australian Church cannot be determined and managed only by those who cling to what they regard as the non-negotiable aspects of Church hierarchy and governance, when those aspects are shown to have contributed to past failures in transparency and accountability. Those failures then compounded rates of child abuse which were shocking, tragic and indefensible. The Royal Commission has less than a year to run. Once it reports, the Australian Church will need to change radically, or become a despised, diminishing sect.” – Frank  Brennan SJ (16/02/2017) 1

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A People not a Pyramid

Christianity: Leadership in a Society of Equals. Part IV.

A NEW PARADIGM
….we have to make big decisions about the future … It has to be an assembly of the whole Church and not just the bishops. (++Mark Coleridge)

Archbishop Mark Coleridge has raised a number of matters he sees as essential for a responsible and transparently open process in preparation for the 2020 Plenary Council:

The need for the Catholic Church in Australia to retrieve its ‘missionary’ spirit, to let go of a introspective defensiveness. Coleridge has called for a break in the tradition about the apostolate of the laity: ‘The hierarchy needs to distance themselves from Pope Pius XI’s teaching in 1927 that the Catholic Action was “the participation of the laity in the apostolate of the hierarchy.” This presumes an ecclesiology of strict episcopal command, control and micromanagement. It is in tension with the ecclesiology of Vatican II which taught the ecclesiology of the People of God and the structures of shared governance, accountability and subsidiarity which are implied in that ancient model.’ Archbishop Coleridge also believes that “…we have to ask questions about ordained ministry,’ the relationship between new ecclesial movements and the older established communities; the viability of the traditional parish and what might need to be done to sustain the sacramental life of the local churches.

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Rome, March 25 2017

A call from the European Network of Church on the Move

[ French ]  [ German ] [ Italian ] [ Spanish ]

"Determined to lay the foundations for an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe, determined to ensure the common economic and social progress of their countries by eliminating the barriers which divide Europe, aiming at a constant improvement of the living and working conditions of their people ", the six founding countries of Europe signed on March 25, 1957, 60 years ago, the Treaty of Rome at the origin of the European Union. What about Europe today? Can we celebrate its sixtieth anniversary, with festivals and commemorations as for its fiftieth anniversary? We must make a serious analysis of the situation and the crises of Europe, as citizens of Europe and as Christians.

            Our Europe is confronted with major changes in the global geopolitical structure of the world, the financiarisation of economic and political relations between countries of the world. A radical paradigm shift has been made: instead of putting finance at the service of the people of Europe, people are put at the service of finance, and fail to organize themselves effectively to oppose this domination.

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Key points for a new church  - future through community renewal

Call of the ChurchPeopleConferenz "Communities  only work with the people" 10./11. March 2017 in Würzburg

For decades, new pastoral plans and community strategy have been developed over and over again. Always new structural models such as Pastoral Care Units, Pastoral Spaces, etc. were propagated - but all under the premise of leadership by a priest. In view of the current conditions of admission to the priestly ministry and the growing lack of priesthood (58 priestly ordinations in 2015 and 80 in 2016 for the 27 German dioceses), all these paths have entered the impasse.

"We need a rethinking in the pastoral planning," the eleven priests of the Year of Consecration from Cologne write in 1967 in their open letter on the state of the church and the priestly profession. "The previous system has caused the churches to break down before our eyes. Grandparents are in every respect a guaranty: the increasing anonymisation and separation in society are then also encouraged in the church, instead of counteracting it. "

A church, which is not prophetic, builds up barricads for the future itself. To stop the erosion process of ecclesiastical life, a church change urgently needs to be addressed to the message of Jesus from the beginning of the kingdom of God and begins and begins at the level of the church. In the current cultural upheaval, the ChurchPeolpeConference invites all church members to bring the forgotten vision of Jesus of the future of a humanity reconciled in justice alive and to work consistently on a new future of world and society.

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LGBT Catholics Westminster in St. Peter's Square, following the Papal Audience, 1 March 2017

Mass at Cardinal Vincent's Titular Church, San Alfonso - the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour.

With Fr. Keith Pecklers SJ after Mass at Caravita

UK News

LGBT Catholics, parents and friends returned home on 5 March 2017 after an inspiring 6 days of pilgrimage to Rome. This 2nd LGBT Catholics Westminster Rome pilgrimage received a warm message from Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster:

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by John Chuchman, found in Catholica

I yearn for church
that is not an enclosure for the virtuous,
but more an oasis for the weary and downtrodden;
not an experience of exclusion, discrimination, and elitism,
but more an encounter of radical love, inclusiveness and solidarity;
not with an attitude of we are right and they are wrong,
but more with an attitude of openness to truth
wherever and in whomever it is to be found;
not a bastion of unchangeable doctrine and dogma,
but a source of inspiration and exploration;
not one claiming to have all the answers,
but one challenging us all to live the questions;
not with a leadership of control and clericalism,
but more with a humble service exemplified by Jesus;
not using a language of condemnation,
but more with a language of affirmation and compassion;
not preoccupied with its own maintenance and prestige,
but more with a concern for the People of God,
all of us.

Love, John

See more reflections on John Chuchman's blog.

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PRESS RELEASE  6 March 2017

After more than 3 years in office the efforts by Pope Francis to reform the Roman Catholic Church are stalling. The conservative curia are fighting to retain power and control and are blocking reforms by Pope Francis to make our church more compassionate in the image of Christ. The most powerful dicastry in the Vatican is the Congregation for Doctrine and Faith (CDF) with Cardinal Gerhard Müller at its head. The CDF has now been shown to have:

• Refused the request from the Pontifical Abuse Commission that all letters from survivors should receive a reply
• Refused to allow a tribunal to be set up to investigate and censure bishops regarding covering up sexual abuse 
• Refused to change the processes it uses for investigating priests & religious which are unjust and in breach of natural justice

Sigrid Grabmeier, Chair of We Are Church International, said, “The CDF has come to symbolize those aspects of our Church that serve to protect and preserve institutional power, often at the expense of the people of God. Many Catholics see it as perverting rather than exemplifying the Gospel. For the good of our Church, substantive change—a conversion, really—is needed in this important office. And quickly.”

In order to move forward towards a renewed and reformed church We Are Church International call on Pope Francis to replace Cardinal Gerhard Müller with someone who will introduce transparency, justice and compassion in the CDF.

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

We Are Church International, 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.

See also:

America Magazine

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Hans Küng has written to The Tablet and National Catholic Reporter:

[DE]

It was most gratifying that the chairman of the Protestant Churches in Germany, Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, accompanied by the president of the German Catholic bishops' conference, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, officially visited Pope Francis in Rome together on the occasion of the Reformation Jubilee. The Pope spoke of "an already reconciled diversity." He said he greatly appreciated the spiritual and theological gifts that the Reformation had given us and that he wanted to do everything he could "to overcome the obstacles that still remained."

Already in September 2016, Bishop Bedford-Strohm and Cardinal Marx presented their "Common Word" entitled "Healing Memories — Bearing Witness to Christ." After five centuries of condemning and inflicting wounds upon each other, both the two leading Churches in Germany declared that they intended to celebrate the Reformation anniversary together as a "Feast for Jesus Christ."

A further pivotal point in the commemoration process will be the main Service of Repentance and Reconciliation that the Council of the Protestant Churches and the Catholic bishops' conference will celebrate together at Hildesheim on March 11, 2017.

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We Are Church International is deeply disturbed by the ongoing difficulties faced by the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which have led to the resignation of Marie Collins, an outspoken survivor of clerical sexual abuse.

Statements made by Ms. Collins following her resignation indicate that the Commission lacked the resources, respect, and responsiveness needed for their work to be effective. This is a tragic affront to the victims, survivors, families, and parishes impacted by decades of clerical abuse and hierarchical cover up. It indicates that, despite numerous claims of concern and repentance, leaders of the Catholic Church still do not believe that addressing the damage done to so many for so long needs to be a top priority for our Church.

We Are Church International extends its profound respect and gratitude to Marie Collins, and to many others who have fought for justice for clerical abuse survivors, victims, and their families, and for implementation of Church policies and practices that protect children and vulnerable adults from abuse.

We Are Church International further calls on Pope Francis to personally address the issues that have undermined the Commission’s work. The Commission needs an adequate budget and staff to support their work. The Tribunal to hold bishops accountable for protecting abusers and putting additional children at risk must be established, and given the authority to conduct authentic investigations and enforce substantive consequences for those found to have engaged in cover ups of abuse. Most importantly, the Commission needs unfettered access to documents and individuals that have information about past abuse and current practices. The opaque culture of the Vatican and Catholic chanceries around the world must be transformed by a commitment to accountability for any meaningful work to be accomplished.

The abuse of children and vulnerable adults by clerics and the cover up of abuse by Catholic hierarchs is one of the most shameful events in our Church’s history. It has alienated thousands of Catholics around the world and seriously undermined the Church’s moral authority. We Are Church International calls for authentic repentance and a radical transformation of action and belief on the part of our entire Church.

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We Are Church International, 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.

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

See also:

NCR - Editorial: Clergy culture sustains sex abuse scandal

NCR - Exclusive: Survivor explains decision to leave Vatican's abuse commission

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From the statement of Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen of Parramatta at the Royal Commission into Institutional response to child abuse in Australia - February 2017

I do believe that the marginalisation of women and the laity is part of this culture of clericalism that contributes not insignificantly to the sexual abuse crisis, and I think if we are serious about reform, this is one of the areas that we need to look at.

Accountability in that perfect Church model only works upwards. You’re accountable to the person above you. As long as the bishop has the backing of the Pope, he’s safe. As long as the priest has the backing of his bishop, he’s safe. There’s no accountability that reaches outwards or downwards, and that’s the critical problem, as far as I see. That discipleship of equals calls into question that upward accountability that is in operation as a result of that ecclesiastical model of a perfect society where everyone knows their place and the pecking order is strictly dictated by ordination.

The laity have no meaningful or direct participation in the appointment, supervision and even removal of the parish priest. I think that needs to change. Or even at the episcopal level, the appointment, supervision and removal of a bishop is virtually excluded from the faithful. The Morris affair is a typical example of that. There’s no accountability to the faithful there. So that needs to be examined if we are serious about creating a new culture of accountability in the Church today.