Next month, each diocese will be receiving a questionnaire from the Office of the Synod of Bishops inviting the people to voice their opinions and concerns about the future of the institutional Church. From October 2021 through April 2022, Pope Francis has called upon every diocese throughout the world for bishops and the people to engage in dialogue. The pope wants to hear from all the people - not only those who are engaged in regular Mass attendance but even those who've walked away from the institutional Church valuing their personal faith over so called "Church laws" and prescripts.

 Read why so many others are signing the petition:

You may appreciate reading just a few of the comments from the hundreds of responses from the People of God explaining why so many are signing this petition to bishops and are contacting their bishops to ensure that there will be a synod held in their region of the world:

 "I'm signing because I can no longer accept the Catholic Church as it has evolved. I now pray to Christ who began our Faith but did not include the manner in which it has evolved. I have learned that the Church that we know began to evolve at least 1,000 years later and was totally delivered by men who did not marry and did not include women." Dublin, Ireland

 "The Church has strayed and needs to get back on mission and reflect its true role. We also owe it to those who have left and are leaving the Church in droves, particularly young people, and again become relevant to the times we live in, the needs we have, and the new understandings we have gained." John, Melbourne, Australia

 "I believe all that is written in this petition from the depths of my being! We have lost so much that Vatican II enabled - and we desperately need to get it back before this patriarchal hierarchy smothers us all. We need to pray for those who stand in the way of Pope Francis’ efforts to bring us back much more closely to what Jesus had envisioned!" Mary, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

 "I am deeply committed to the Catholic Church because this is how I came to know God. Most of my heroes have been and are here. I love the Mass and Sacraments, but I think that we have to move beyond the present clericalism and learn to better hear Jesus and live the Gospels." Kathryn, Raleigh, N. Carolina

 “I am signing because I believe in an evolutionary Church; that Jesus expects and guides us to change in order to grow. I believe our young people are underscoring this understanding.”

Harry, St Paul, Minnesota, USA

 Sign the petition to Bishops in your own language

Sign this petition in your own language

Firme esta petición en su propio idioma

Unterschreibe diese Petition in deiner eigenen Sprache

Signez cette pétition dans votre langue

Assine esta petição em seu próprio idioma

귀하의 언어로 이 청원서에 서명하십시오

あなたの母国語でこの請願書に署名してください

Saini ombi hili kwa lugha yako mwenyewe

To ensure that there will be a synod in your region of the world, send a letter to your bishop, pastor, or priest also in your own language.

Pope Francis has called for a diocesan synod to be held in every diocese throughout the world beginning this coming October. This first step is scheduled to conclude by April 2022. Without encouragement from the People, some bishops will choose not to hold this synod in their diocese.

Below you will find a model letter in your own language that you are encouraged to use to help you formulate your own letter to your bishop, pastor, or priest. The purpose is to let the clergy know how important it is for the People of God to be included and listened to in these forthcoming diocesan synods.

model letter in English

model letter in Spanish

model letter in German

model letter in French

model letter in Portuguese

model letter in Korean

model letter in Japanese

model letter in Swahili / Kiswahili

For years, many of us have been working and praying for the reform of our Church. For the first time, there appears to be a real opportunity to bring about needed changes. Pope Francis has opened the door as wide as he possibly can inviting the people to speak out while all but forcing the bishops to listen to their people. Francis has given us a window of opportunity - but it is a narrow one. He has called for diocesan synods to be held in every diocese throughout the world from October 2021 to April 2022. Once that window closes, the chance for the people to have any influence will be over as the synodal process moves into phase two and three.

Join with people from around the world by signing this petition in your own language to ensure that we, the people, will be included in this all important synodal process. For the Spirit to be heard at these diocesan synods, the voices of the people must be well represented. Once you have signed it, please post it on your social media accounts and pass it on to all your circle of contacts. Ask your contacts to do the same.

One additional step you are encouraged to take: Use the model letter (shown below in your own language) to write to your own bishops and pastors letting them know how important it will be for them to include a good cross section of the lay people of God in your diocesan synod. Sign the petition now and pass it on to everyone you know, even those who've left the Church out of disappointment or frustration.

Sign the petition to Bishops in your own language

Sign this petition in your own language

Firme esta petición en su propio idioma

Unterschreibe diese Petition in deiner eigenen Sprache

Signez cette pétition dans votre langue

Assine esta petição em seu próprio idioma

귀하의 언어로 이 청원서에 서명하십시오

あなたの母国語でこの請願書に署名してください

Saini ombi hili kwa lugha yako mwenyewe

Send a letter to your own bishop, pastor, or priest in your own language

Pope Francis has called for a diocesan synod to be held in every diocese throughout the world beginning this coming October. This first step is scheduled to conclude by April 2022. Without encouragement from the People, some bishops will choose not to hold this synod in their diocese.

Below you will find a model letter in your own language that you are encouraged to use to help you formulate your own letter to your bishop, pastor, or priest. The purpose is to let the clergy know how important it is for the People of God to be included and listened to in these forthcoming diocesan synods.

model letter in English

model letter in Spanish

model letter in German

model letter in French

model letter in Portuguese

model letter in Korean

model letter in Japanese

model letter in Swahili / Kiswahili

To Bishops and Pastors in the Catholic Church:

Pope Francis has called for engagement of the whole People of God in walking, discerning, governing, and evangelizing together to make fruitful the Synod on Synodality soon to begin on the local level this fall. It is our hope that every diocese throughout the world will hold a synod (a gathering of bishops to listen to the voices of the laity) between October 2021 and April 2022.

The early church was a community of equals, governed by Christ’s “new commandment” that we love one another. The community came together in ‘house churches’ led by both men and women celebrating the Eucharist and keeping the faith alive. The current patriarchal and hierarchal Church patterned on monarchy, is not what Christ envisioned, for we are all one in Christ (Gal.3:28).

We call on the bishops and pastors of the Catholic Church to fully engage us, the people, in the forthcoming synodal process called by Pope Francis. Beginning at the diocesan level, we want our voices to be heard and included in all discussions continuing on to reach the national level and finally the universal synod in Rome in 2023.

Sign this petition

We are heartened by Pope Francis’s comments to the Italian bishops (May 24) that the Synod must have a “bottom-up” focus with the process beginning in small, local communities and parishes. He called for patience, allowing all to speak freely, giving space to “the wisdom of the People of God.”

We are eager to join with others in our local community to speak out in support of the changes we want and need in our Church. Even if some of us have left the Church in frustration or disappointment, we recognize that now is the time to tell you, our church leaders, what drove us away.

For the Spirit to be heard, the lay People of God must be well represented at these synods. We feel it is essential to include the following topics both (1) in the questionnaire soon to be released, and (2) in all synodal discussions at all levels.

How the Church can become more welcoming, forgiving, loving, and inclusive

• Women's role in Church ministry
• A path back to the Sacraments for the divorced and remarried
• Place of the LGBTQ community in the Church
• Role of Small Christian Communities (SCCs) in the official structure of the Church
• Lay people trained to administer in parishes and Small Christian Communities where it is anticipated that no priest will be available
• Should celibacy for priests be optional
• Transparency and accountability in the clerical sex abuse, financial crimes, and their use of power in the Church.

Additionally, we commit to sending a letter to our bishop or pastor to ensure that the views of the laity are well represented.

Cardinal Marx Letter has opened up a new awakening for the People of God

Catholic Church Reform International (CCRI), acknowledges Cardinal Reinhard Marx for his courageous effort "to send a personal signal for a new beginning, for a new awakening of the Church, not only in Germany but throughout the world. By his letter of resignation, he is saying that it is wrong to simply link the clergy sex abuse scandal on the past thereby 'burying' what happened." Francis has rejected the cardinal's resignation and has asked him to continue with his current work. That includes his significant work with the Synodal Path.

Cardinal Marx's resignation was about the urgency of a radical reform of the Church calling on the People of God to assume far greater responsibility for our Church. "It is important to me," the Cardinal said, "to share the responsibility for the catastrophe of the sexual abuse by Church officials over the past decades. My impression is that we are at a 'dead end' which, and this is my paschal hope, also has the potential of becoming a 'turning point'."

It will be a turning point only if the Cardinal has the backing of masses of the People of God. "This could be the catalyst for the emergence of a new church founded on Gospel values that is truly inclusive, transparent, and participatory of all," said Christina Reymer, a member of the Strategy Team of Catholic Church Reform Int'l from New Zealand.

What can we as the People of God do?

Pope Francis is calling for a synodal Church, that is, the People of God walking together with the bishops. He said it must stem from a “bottom-up” process that begins in small communities and in parishes. "Thus the three year 'Synodal Process' does not wait for instructions from the Vatican and the local bishop’s decrees from above, but starts from below."Francis has called for there to be diocesan synods throughout every diocese in the world this October - only four months from now. "Let us listen to Francis and not wait for our bishops to call these synods," said Rene Reid, CCRI director. "The time is now for us to contact our bishops and, whether or not he intends to call a diocesan synod, inform him that we, the People of God, intend to respond to Francis and call for assemblies to discern the forward movement of our Church."

Conferences of Bishops must now welcome laity as equals

Fr Joe Healey, a CCRI Strategy Team member from Nairobi, Kenya suggests: "Let us also encourage and challenge the bishops and other Catholic Church leaders who are waiting and not responding to the pope's call to begin this first step in the synodal process." It would be an essential move that episcopal conferences (made up only of bishops) be replaced by ecclesial conferences - with bishops and the people all having an equal voice.

We the People of God are being called by our pope to rise up and initiate the next steps. Let us hear the call of the Spirit and begin now organizing in our parishes, our dioceses, and in our organizations!

INTERNATIONAL REFORM NETWORK SUPPORTS LGBT+ COMMUNITY IN WAKE OF VATICAN DENOUNCING CHURCH BLESSINGS FOR SAME SEX COUPLES

19 March 2021

Catholic Church Reform International (CCRI), joins with the outrage of millions of people from around the world disgusted by the Vatican's recent statement forbidding Church blessings for same-sex couples. Together with We Are Church Int’l, Future Church, and numerous Catholic bishops from around the world we, too, support all movements within the Church to continue blessing same sex relationships. The statement released by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith saying that the church cannot bless gay unions is based on an outdated church position that they are “not ordered to the Creator’s plan.” What is worse, the document said the pope was “informed” and “assented” to its publication. After the welcoming outreach of Pope Francis regarding the pastoral care of LGBT+ persons and his support of civil unions, we at CCRI agree with America magazine journalist Gerard O’Connell that it is significant that the document used such a tentative phrase in lieu of the more usual language of “approved” and “ordered its publication.” Pope Francis, we know you did not order the publication of this document. You cannot remain silent on this issue. You must come out publicly and state your position on this matter or what you fear most, a schism in the Church, will be inevitable. “For decades now the Church has been losing credibility with her Faithful, but this statement destroys any authority the Church has left over the people,” says Rene Reid, CCRI director. “No condemnatory pronouncement from the Vatican can stop the Spirit’s movement of our Church from blessing all of God’s people.”

CCRI Contact:  Ms Rene Reid, director

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

Telephone: +775-825-9196 off; +775-772-1210 cell