Il testo di papa Ratzinger diffuso ieri su una rivista tedesca è importante. E’ la prima volta che in modo pubblico dopo le sue dimissioni egli mette i piedi nel piatto delle grandi questioni che travagliano la Chiesa e lo fa in un momento delicato con papa Francesco sotto pressione da due versanti opposti sulla questione della pedofilia del clero, c’è chi lo accusa di essere troppo prudente e c’è chi si aspetta invece altri rinvii o insabbiamenti (anche senza dirlo esplicitamente). La posizione del papa emerito in questo testo si capisce che ha alle spalle una posizione critica più generale sul pontificato di Francesco, che però non viene esplicitata. Forse ha qualche suggeritore all’interno della Curia. Il parlare della pedofilia serve per un confronto/scontro più generale di tipo teologico e pastorale in cui da una parte c’è l’opposizione al “mondo” (che è il male) e dall’altra il dialogo e l’arricchimento reciproco con quanto è esterno alla Chiesa (è la linea del Concilio). Questa uscita di Ratzinger offusca la decisione evangelica (ed esemplare sotto il profilo dei problemi di governo della Chiesa) che egli prese con le sue dimissioni. Il suo testo, aldilà delle sue debolezze evidenti e della povertà del suo contenuto, ci sembra di una gravità eccezionale perché esso servirà come punto di riferimento nei prossimi tempi per gli insofferenti del magistero attuale considerato non dottrinale, troppo terzomondista, troppo ecumenico. Papa Bergoglio e il Card. Parolin sono stati informati del documento. Sicuramente non l’hanno gradito e dovranno fare buon viso a cattivo gioco. L’imbarazzo traspare anche da come il documento è stato presentato sull’Osservatore Romano e sull’Avvenire.
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CCBF Communiqué de presse – 17 février 2020
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- Category: France
L’exhortation apostolique du pape François “Chère Amazonie”
[ English ]
La CCBF prend acte de l’encouragement que contient cette exhortation apostolique pour les catholiques. Elle les invite à être inventifs en matière de ministères, de célébrations et de rites, dans la conformité au génie du christianisme, afin qu’ils se sentent totalement responsables de l’annonce de l’Évangile, sans attendre une approbation de la hiérarchie.
L’exhortation apostolique « Chère Amazonie » qui vient de paraître se recentre sur la question amazonienne qu’elle explore dans toutes ses dimensions, économique, politique, écologique, culturelle et ecclésiale. Ce faisant, elle ignore, sans les approuver ni les annuler, les propositions des évêques réunis en synode qui s’étaient, à une large majorité, prononcés en faveur de l’ordination d’hommes mariés, pour pallier non seulement la pénurie de prêtres, la dispersion des communautés mais aussi leurs différences culturelles, en particulier linguistiques. Certains en espéraient une décision du Magistère pour un libre choix des ministres ordonnés entre célibat et mariage.
Pope’s Response to Amazon Synod Fails to Respond to Church Members Needs
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- Category: Statements /Press Releases
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.”
Read more: Pope’s Response to Amazon Synod Fails to Respond to Church Members Needs
Women's rights in the Church
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- Category: Women's Equality
Women's rights in the Church - in the context of sex abuse
by Virginia Saldanha
Abstract:
Towards the end of the 20th century the increased awareness of women’s rights has resulted in the critique of culture, tradition and practices responsible for depriving women of their rightful place in the family and society. The creation of international instruments, laws and protections for women have given women the opportunity to take their place in all spheres of life like politics, business, law enforcement, etc. However, in the Catholic Church women are still kept submissive to patriarchal authority. The nature of religious leadership that compels women to go to men for spiritual guidance and most of all for confession has created a number of problems for women in their working relationship with the clergy, especially sex abuse. Looking at this problem from the framework of universally accepted women’s rights and protections, it is important for the Church to take steps to address this grave issue.
Voices of Faith in Rome - January 2020
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- Category: Latest News
With many voices, but one vision - Catholic women set out on a pilgrimage towards Rome for dignity and equality in the Roman Catholic Church
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.
"Wir sind Kirche" wirft Papst Benedikt Kirchenspaltung vor
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- Category: Germany
[ English ]
Die Reformbewegung "Wir sind Kirche" wirft dem emeritierten Papst Benedikt einen Beitrag zur Spaltung der katholischen Kirche vor. Seine jüngsten Äußerungen zum Zölibat seien "ungeheuerlich", sagte der Sprecher der Bewegung, Christian Weisner, am Montag in München.
Joseph Ratzinger habe nach seinem Rücktritt als Papst gesagt, "dass er schweigen und sich nicht mehr in die Kirchenpolitik einmischen will". Jetzt tue er sich aber mit einem dezidierten Kritiker seines Nachfolgers Papst Franziskus zusammen. "Das ist eine Kirchenspaltung, zu der er ganz entschieden und in ganz unverantwortlicher Weise beiträgt", sagte Weisner. "Das ist ein ganz ungutes Zeichen."
Weisner rief die katholischen Bischöfe auf, sich deutlich zu distanzieren und ihm zu sagen: "Lieber Joseph Ratzinger, jetzt ist es mal genug."
Auch inhaltlich ist das Festhalten am Zölibat, das Ratzinger laut Vorab-Abdrucken in der französischen Zeitung "Le Figaro" in einem neuen Buch gemeinsam mit dem konservativen Kardinal Robert Sarah fordert, aus Sicht von "Wir sind Kirche" der völlig falsche Weg. Die Kirche könne in Zeiten des weltweiten Priestermangels "eine Missionstätigkeit und die Aufrechthaltung der Gemeinden bei uns anders gar nicht leisten", sagte Weisner.
"In der ganzen Kirchengeschichte gab es lange Phasen, wo der Zölibat nicht verpflichtend gewesen ist", betonte er. "Die katholische Kirche hat sich in der Vergangenheit viel mehr gewandelt als man es uns heute weißmachen will."
AUTOMATIC TRANSLATION WITH DEEPL:
"We are Church" accuses Pope Benedict of church division The reform movement "We are Church" accuses the emeritus Pope Benedict of contributing to the division of the Catholic Church. His recent statements on celibacy are "outrageous", said the movement's spokesman, Christian Weisner, on Monday in Munich.
After his resignation as Pope, Joseph Ratzinger had said "that he would keep silent and no longer interfere in church politics". Now, however, he was joining forces with a determined critic of his successor Pope Francis. "This is a schism in the Church to which he is contributing in a very decisive and irresponsible way," Weisner said. "This is a very bad sign."
Weisner called on the Catholic bishops to distance themselves clearly and tell him: "Dear Joseph Ratzinger, enough is enough."
Also in terms of content, the adherence to celibacy, which Ratzinger demands together with the conservative Cardinal Robert Sarah in a new book, according to advance reprints in the French newspaper "Le Figaro", is from the point of view of "We are Church" the completely wrong way. In times of a worldwide lack of priests, the church could not otherwise "perform missionary work and keep the congregations upright in our country", Weisner said.
"In the whole history of the church there were long phases where celibacy was not obligatory," he stressed. "The Catholic Church has changed much more in the past than we are told today.
Best wishes
C h r i s t i a n W e i s n e r WE ARE CHURCH GERMANY
ALSO
Ratzinger, contro papa Francesco, diventa portavoce di tutta la destra presente in Curia e fuori
SECOND DECLARATION ASSEMBLY SELF-CONVOCATED LAY SYNOD
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- Category: Chile
I know the plans I have for you, plans for your well-being and not for your evil, in order to give you a hopeful future. I, the Lord, affirm it (Jeremiah 29, 11).
A year ago, following the impulse of the Spirit, we began a self-convened and self-managed lay synodal time that, in its First Assembly, concluded, among other aspects, that the existence of structures in which the evil exercise of power is enclosed, by its asymmetry in the exercise of it, generates abuses that imply suffering to all the people of God. During 2019, we found that the abuse of power transcended the walls of the Church. It is a normalized practice that transcends the entire Chilean society, coming from political and economic structures that express an abusive system that contrasts with the dignity that everyone has for the fact, first, of being a person, and then for their condition of sons and daughters of God. The social outbreak of October 2019 made it evident.
Read more: SECOND DECLARATION ASSEMBLY SELF-CONVOCATED LAY SYNOD
"That's the only way forward!"
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- Category: Latest News
Catholic women's network in German-speaking countries: "That's the only way forward!"
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.
Hope for the World and the Catholic Church from the Amazon Synod
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- Category: Statements /Press Releases
We Are Church Sees Hope for the World and the Catholic Church in Final Report of Amazon Synod;
But the perpetuation of women’s lower-class status in our Church remains a grave injustice
Contact: Marianne Duddy-Burke, +1 617-669-7810, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
October 27, 2019. We Are Church International sees reason for hope in the final document issued at the conclusion of the Amazon Synod. We Are Church International (WAC-International) stands in solidarity with all the people of the Amazon whose representatives have so bravely and passionately articulated the urgent crisis facing all of humanity due to the ecological destruction that has been underway in the region for decades. We stand with the indigenous leaders who spoke so passionately about the threats to their peoples and cultures and who stood firm against the economic imperialism that has led to the deaths of so many in the area.
Read more: Hope for the World and the Catholic Church from the Amazon Synod
ICRN Supports Lay Led Eucharist and LGBT People
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- Category: Latest News
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.
Support for the Indian nun Lucy Kalappura
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- Category: France
PRESS RELEASE
NSAE (Nous sommes aussi l’Église - We also are Church) has been informed of very disturbing news from India, concerning rape cases of nuns.
In early 2018, Bishop Franco Mulakkal, Bishop of Jalandhar, was accused by a Missionary sister of Jesus of having raped her repeatedly between 2014 and 2016. The bishop always denied it, under the well-known argument that it would be a conspiracy against the Church. For several months no one paid attention to the nun's complaint. But in September 2018, five of her sisters organized a sit-in to support her, with the participation of several nuns from different congregations and members of laity.
They were asking for the bishop's arrest, which they finally got : he was charged with rape and released on bail.
One of the sisters who supported her, Sr Lucy Kalappura, belonging to another congregation, the Franciscan Clarist Congregation, is currently the subject of vexations and sanctions, and has just been expelled from her community. Such a decision is extremely serious, as it denies the commitment a nun has made for the entire life, and that she intends to continue to assume. These sanctions are directly linked to her support for the raped sister. Sr. Lucy is known for her effective involvement with the poor and vulnerable people.
Report on AYA/ATF in ChiangMai 1 – 11 August 2019
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- Category: Asian Theology Forum
Summary of the conference
We Are Church has been sending a delegate to the Asian Youth Academy (AYA) and Asian Theology Forum (ATF) since 2013 (Didier van Houtte; Jean Pierre Schmitz; Martha Heizer and myself). It is organised by the Asian Lay Leaders (ALL) Forum which is managed by Paul Hwang. ALL invites young leaders (aged 25 – 35) from 12 – 15 different Asian countries to spend 10 days together learning about each others countries especially regarding Indigenous Peoples (IP), the environment, climate change, community building, cultures and faith development. In 2019 the meeting was in ChiangMai in Thailand, based in the CLUMP Centre in Doi Thong.
The program started with a Welcoming Ceremony lead by tribal chiefs. We were divided into 5 groups to visit and live in small remote villages of the Karen people. My group was based in Mae Aeb, a village of 150 people, 7 km off the main road along a bumpy twisting road. We tried planting rice, which was a wonderful experience to remove socks and shoes and squelch in the muddy 
water. We visited the weaving operations and had a long Question & Answer session with the village chief via interpreters and facilitators as the Karen people have their own language, which is very different to the Thai language; we had meals in our host families who looked after their guests first before eating themselves. We helped the village repair their access road with stone chippings, which we helped distribute to fill in holes and repair the road. Our village has now got many links with the outside world; 30 years ago they were totally agriculture based and self sufficient; today many of the young work in the city; and today the village has several pick up trucks, motor bikes, water & electricity supply, Satellite TV and mobile phone network coverage. They are mostly Catholic with a good number of Buddhists who cooperate well together.
Read more: Report on AYA/ATF in ChiangMai 1 – 11 August 2019
The German Bishops have announced a "binding synodal path"
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- Category: Germany
[ German ]
The German Bishops have announced a "binding synodal path" which will address (1) "Power, participation and separation of powers", (2) "Sexual morality" and (3) "Priestly life form". Pressure from Maria 2.0 and WAC Germany made the bishops add a 4th point: (4) "Women in the offices and ministries of the Church"
Synodal route in Germany: Third attempt
In response to the shocking results of the so-called abuse study published at the end of September 2018 ("MHG study"), the German bishops announced at their spring meeting in March 2019 a "binding synodal path" (see April issue CHURCH IN). Christian Weisner analyzes the opportunities and possibilities.
Read more: The German Bishops have announced a "binding synodal path"
La sinodalità dal basso arriva dall’Amazzonia.
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- Category: Italy
Ora i viri probati dovranno celebrare l’Eucaristia.A ottobre il Sinodo.
[ English ]
Il documento preparatorio per il Sinodo sull’Amazzonia (6-27 ottobre), il cd Instrumentum Laboris, è, al solito, troppo lungo ma ottimo sia nelle analisi socioeconomicheambientali sia nelle proposte pastorali. Pensiamo che questa sua insolita ricchezza sia una conseguenza della vastissima consultazione di base che l’ha preceduto. Abbiamo notizie che il processo di ascolto ha coinvolto circa centomila persone, tra cui 170 etnie originali (quasi la metà di quelle censite) mediante assemblee nelle 103 chiese locali e molti forum tematici. Il Popolo di Dio ha parlato, il Sinodo dovrebbe andare su questa strada. Possiamo dire che in gran parte il “lavoro” dovrebbe essere già stato fatto. Indichiamo i punti principali che si susseguono e si ripetono nel documento e le questioni aperte. Il documento vale una lettura integrale.
Equality for Women is the Christian Way Forward
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- Category: Statements /Press Releases
[ 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.
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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 |
Marianne Duddy-Burke, USA Media, We Are Church International E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. M: +1 617 669 7810 |
ORDINATIO SACERDOTALIS oder die Absurdität der Unfehlbarkeit
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- Category: Germany
25 Jahre "Ordinatio Sacerdotalis"
ORDINATIO SACERDOTALIS oder die Absurdität der Unfehlbarkeit
Wir sind Kirche zum 25. Jahrestag der „endgültigen“ Feststellung der Weiheunfähigkeit von Frauen in der römisch-katholischen Kirche am 22. Mai 1994
Pressemitteilung, München und Innsbruck, 16. Mai 2019
Die deutsche KirchenVolksBewegung und die österreichische Plattform Wir sind Kirche protestieren nach wie vor energisch gegen das Apostolische Schreiben ORDINATIO SACERDOTALIS von Papst Johannes Paul II über die nur Männern vorbehaltene Priesterweihe. Die Erklärung des Papstes, dass die Kirche keine Vollmacht habe, Frauen zu Diakoninnen und Priesterinnen zu weihen, steht in einer Reihe von Verlautbarungen aus Rom, in denen die Verkünder endgültiger Entscheidungen weder die Erkenntnisse eigener Expert*innen innerhalb und außerhalb der Hierarchie noch die Zeichen der Zeit erkannt haben.
Read more: ORDINATIO SACERDOTALIS oder die Absurdität der Unfehlbarkeit
HÖCHSTSTUFE DER FAHRLÄSSIGKEIT
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- Category: Austria
Wir sind Kirche zur Aussage von Papst Franziskus zum Frauen-Diakonat
Pressemitteilung Innsbruck, 8. Mai 2019
Im Hinblick auf die ausweichende Antwort von Papst Franziskus auf die am Rückflug von Nord-Mazedonien durch einen Journalisten gestellte Frage nach Diakoninnen fordert „Wir sind Kirche“ einmal mehr, sämtliche Ämter der Katholischen Kirche für Frauen zu öffnen.
Dass die von Franziskus eingesetzte Kommission zur Frage von Diakoninnen in der frühen Kirche offensichtlich zu keinem einheitlichen Ergebnis gekommen ist, mag kirchengeschichtlich interessant sein und zu weiteren Forschungen durch Historikerinnen und Historiker führen. Die Kirche aber wird niemals nur um ihre Vergangenheit kreisen dürfen, sondern wird Geschichte immer auch fortschreiben müssen. Eine Kirche des 21. Jahrhunderts kommt nicht umhin, Frauen und Männern unterschiedslos die gleiche Würde und die gleichen Rechte zuzusprechen, will sie in einer aufgeklärten Gesellschaft, die die Menschenrechte ernst nimmt, eine Rolle übernehmen.
Il documento di papa Ratzinger è un Manifesto per una Chiesa preconciliare ed anticonciliare.
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- Category: Italy
Il testo di papa Ratzinger è un vero e proprio Manifesto per una Chiesa preconciliare ed anticonciliare, con molte caricature della realtà e tutto chiuso nell’identità cattolica. Ma non si tornerà indietro.
Vittorio Bellavite, coordinatore nazionale di Noi Siamo Chiesa
[ English ]
Christus Vivit, un’Esortazione apostolica priva di indicazioni operative
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- Category: Italy
Christus Vivit : tante cose belle ma senza indicazioni operative. Il Sinodo aveva fatto meglio.
[ English ]
L’Esortazione Apostolica Postsinodale Christus Vivit è di faticosa lettura. La sua lunghezza, 299 paragrafi, non solo rende difficile al cristiano “di base” (e tanto più al giovane abituato alla comunicazione immediata degli smartphones) l’accesso al suo messaggio ma non permette di identificare facilmente i suoi passaggi centrali. Alcune parti trattano tematiche generali che hanno riferimento solo indiretto a problematiche tipicamente giovanili. Bisogna poi tenere presente che questo documento si ispira a un Sinodo la cui composizione, soprattutto su una tematica di questo genere, abbiamo severamente criticato. Esso era composto da prelati anziani, maschi e celibi insieme a pochi giovani esterni e a poche donne con lo status di chi non poteva votare. L’argomento poi era costituito da una categoria molto sociologica, quella dei giovani appunto, distribuita sulla generalità dell’umanità e che dava occasione e pretesto per parlare di tutto, da problematiche di tipo psicologico o sociale, a questioni più direttamente di Chiesa, fino alle linee di tendenza della convivenza umana verso il futuro.
Read more: Christus Vivit, un’Esortazione apostolica priva di indicazioni operative
I silenzi e i dilemmi di Pio XII. Finalmente l’apertura degli archivi.
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- Category: Italy
[ English ]
L’apertura completa dell’archivio vaticano relativo al pontificato di Pio XII è notizia di grande importanza che è stata sottovalutata sia in ambienti cattolici che laici. E’ un fatto molto positivo e più importante per aperture analoghe degli archivi di altri papi. Infatti Pio XII era uomo molto accentratore e per definizione papa diplomatico. Di conseguenza moltissimo, in modo diretto o indiretto, dipendeva solo da lui, inoltre è noto che egli praticamente svolse anche le funzioni di segretario di Stato (il Card. Maglione ebbe un ruolo minore e solo fino all’agosto del 1944). Inoltre il suo fu un pontificato in un periodo assolutamente straordinario in presenza di una guerra più complessa e generale di quella del ’15-’18 , con fortissime componenti ideologiche inedite (nazismo, comunismo). La comprensione e le interpretazioni delle decisioni di allora di papa Pacelli influenzano ancora oggi e direttamente la politica e la cultura soprattutto per la questione relativa al suo atteggiamento nei confronti della Shoah sul quale il dibattito e le ricerca continuano da sempre.
Read more: I silenzi e i dilemmi di Pio XII. Finalmente l’apertura degli archivi.
Sexual Abuse of Religious Sisters by Priests in the Catholic Church:
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- Category: Statements /Press Releases
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.
Read more: Sexual Abuse of Religious Sisters by Priests in the Catholic Church:
Abuse Summit leaves many at risk
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- Category: Statements /Press Releases
Press Release - 27 February 2019
[ Swedish ]
The Abuse Summit (21-24 Feb 2019) was a disappointment and a missed opportunity.
For over 3 decades clerical child sex abuse scandals have been prominent in several countries (Austria, Germany, USA, Ireland, Australia, Canada, Chile) who have introduced safeguarding measures. These measures have been refined through experience and audits. More recently clerical child sex abuse scandals have surfaced in many other countries (France, Spain, India, etc) and continue to be reported where previously such abuse was kept secret.
The Abuse Summit was therefore an opportunity to share the knowledge and expertise that has been built up so that children in Delhi or Dar es Salaam are as safe as children in Dallas or Dublin. But this did not happen. There was an absence of concrete actions to safeguard children:
It is time for change in the Catholic Church and that starts with equality for women
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- Category: Ireland
‘Guided by the Holy Spirit we must come together and find new inclusive governance structures to replace the old patriarchal model, which has broken down’, writes Colm Holmes.
SENIOR CATHOLIC BISHOPS from all over the world gather in Rome this week for a four-day summit on clerical sexual abuse, which some say is the most serious crisis in the church since the Reformation.
Child sexual abuse will rightly top of the agenda, but it’s also just this month that Pope Francis admitted that Catholic priests and bishops have sexually abused nuns. Pope Francis said: “I think it is still going on, because it’s not something that just goes away like that.” And Pope Francis said this was a cultural problem, the roots of which lie in “seeing women as second class.”
That is a very honest admission by Pope Francis that women are seen as second class. That is the way it had been for many centuries. Women were there to raise children; the men were in charge. But that has changed dramatically in the last 100 years, with women getting the vote and every role becoming open to women – except of course in the Catholic Church.
Read more: It is time for change in the Catholic Church and that starts with equality for women
Sex Abuse Summit - Press Briefing 21 February 2019
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- Category: Latest News
All Nice things were said about the responsibility to victims – listen, take on the journey and responsibility to respond.
We tried to provide listening to victims, heard the cry of young, have guidelines to stimulate discussions which include financial responsibility, relationship between Bishops and Superiors of Religious Congregations, ensuring health community life of priests, etc.
Pope gave a short speech he emphasized listening, Spirit of solidarity and what he expects to happen, a conversion and purification. We need to obtain concrete results. He has prepared a handout of 21 points which will be made into a booklet. Collaboration with all people of goodwill. He will raise marriage age (and change Canon Law), from 14 to 16 (is this progress??? Which century are we living in??)
Read more: Sex Abuse Summit - Press Briefing 21 February 2019
A novanta anni dai Patti Lateranensi Noi Siamo Chiesa riflette sulla storia dei rapporti Stato-Chiesa e fa proposte per una loro profonda modifica
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- Category: Italy
A novanta anni dai Patti Lateranensi Noi Siamo Chiesa riflette sulla storia dei rapporti Stato-Chiesa e fa proposte per una loro profonda modifica
Novanta anni dopo i Patti Lateranensi molte questioni sono ancora aperte nei rapporti Stato-Chiesa. Non si deve fare finta di niente con celebrazioni di pura immagine. Con il nuovo corso di Papa Francesco bisogna cambiare.
Siamo al novantesimo anno dalla firma dei Patti Lateranensi e anche al trentacinquesimo del nuovo concordato. Sarà una ricorrenza tutta d’immagine[1] con il consueto ricevimento all’Ambasciata d’Italia presso la S. Sede che vede la presenza di un governo del tutto diverso da quelli precedenti ma che, sui rapporti Stato-Chiesa, non avrà probabilmente niente da dire se non prendere atto dell’esistente. Maiora premunt, non è all’ordine del giorno parlare di queste questioni oggi in Italia. Eppure si può fare diversamente come chi ha cercato, in occasione del recente centesimo anniversario dell’Appello ai “liberi e forti” di don Sturzo di riflettere sulla nostra storia.
Ecumenical Folk Synod in The Netherlands
- Details
- Category: Netherlands
The intentions of pope John XXIII, of Schillebeekx and our bishops in 1962/65 with Vaticum II have been supported by millions in the Netherlands. Stalemate in the application of decisions made more than 10.000 people gather on a protest meeting in the Hague. It didn’t help. Neither did and do thousands of press release and letters sent since. Now members of Marienburg, the Dutch union of critically Catholics have discovered that the structural church is almost dead and unable to answer questions. Christians themselves have to go for the core of their faith in home celebrations, listening to the grass roots in vision dialogues and organizing folk synods. An ecumenical synod in the Netherlands will be organized as soon as more than 200 of such dialogues have been registered or the stories of more than 1000 people have been heard. This might be spring 2021 or earlier if in time the result of similar efforts in more countries would be available. A guide has been translated into English www.dialogue-in-sixes.click
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