Catholic Church Reform International

Achievements

CCRI’s Recent Achievements

CCRI’s Early Achievements

  • On June 20th, 2013, Catholic Church Reform launched our website, forming a worldwide network of reform-minded individuals and organizations.
  • A September 4, 2013, teleconference call where 60-plus individuals agreed that joining together had value, were able to concur on a primary issue that all shared, and nominated global representatives to serve on the letter drafting committee.
  • A letter for Pope Francis’ October 2013 meeting was drafted, underwent several revisions in a discernment process, then posted for feedback from both individuals and reform group representatives, and ultimately signed by over a hundred church organizations and over 6000 individuals.
  • Press conferences were held on September 25, 2013, in cities worldwide. Press releases appeared in numerous newspapers worldwide, both secular and Catholic. Some representatives of organizations were interviewed on radio and TV, and several news articles, both online and in print, reported on this worldwide initiative.
  • Father Lombardi reported that a frequently discussed topic at the October meeting was “concern for the role of the laity in the Church and the world.” Based on this, together with the announcement of the Synod being called next October to discuss families, we believe our letter to the pope is helping trigger the pope’s actions. It appears we were heard.
  • Co-sponsoring with Catholic Organizations for Renewal a revision of the questionnaire released by the synod of bishops, Vatican survey on family life, in preparation for the Extraordinary Synod of bishops scheduled in October 2014. Sixteen thousand people completed the U.S. survey.
  • A letter to Bishops was mailed to the office of every bishop in the United States in November 2013.
  • A letter for Pope Francis’ December 2013 meeting was hand-delivered to the Pope.
  • A letter for Pope Francis’ February 2014 meeting was delivered to the Pope.
  • A press release was sent out in February 2014 expressing our disappointment at so few laity being appointed to the Pontifical Council for the Laity and those who appeared to hold pre-Vatican II views.
  • A letter to the Secretariat General of the Synod of Bishops, requesting, in a spirit of openness and transparency, that they make public all reports on the Vatican Survey completed by the faithful, was sent in February 2014.
  • Letter from Sean Patrick Cardinal O’Malley’s Office acknowledging appreciation for the time and effort we’ve given to preparing the documents for the February meeting of Pope Francis with his Council.
  • An event in Rome, Forum on the Family – Listening to the Faithful, scheduled for Oct. 2 and 3, 2014, just prior to the start of the Extraordinary Synod called by Pope Francis.