Primary Focus

In line with our overall objective to gain a voice for the baptized in the governance of our Church, our overall focus relates to:

Transformational return to the Gospel message of Jesus
Selection and election of bishops
Decentralization and co-responsibility
Accountability, transparency, and inclusiveness
Gender equality in every aspect of mission, ministry, and decision-making
Listening to the voice of the People of God, the sensus fidelium
Support the formation of Small Christian Communities
Encourage Synodal gatherings of the People of God globally
Ensure that the People are adequately represented at the 2023 Synod in Rome

Early focus in our beginning years:

Our Primary Focus is to effect reform of the Catholic Church’s governance. To this end, we have developed a Strategy Plan for this year, developed by our Strategic Team and supported by our Advisory Group, that outlines our actions and strategies and guides our direction.

to gain representation of a diverse group of 21st-century families at the October 2015 Synod.
to act as responsible members of our Church by taking proactive steps to speak out on matters that concern the good of our Church.
to be respectful and objective, rather than confrontational or rebellious, as we communicate with the church hierarchy in preparing for the 2015 Synod.
to explore ways to creatively contribute valuable input to the Synod of 2015, whether or not the lay faithful are invited to participate.
to communicate with particular offices within the hierarchy.

Earlier focus in our earlier years

CCRI 2017 Strategic Action Plan

Objective: to activate and strengthen the voices of the People of God for the purpose of:

Reforming injustices and inequalities in Church teachings and practices that inhibit their relationship with God;
Transforming from a church of obedience to laws that tend to be exclusive and divisive to an inclusive church that welcomes all and supports the Gospel values of love taught by Jesus.

Goals:

In light of Pope Francis’s focus on decentralization, foster grassroots-initiated forums that educate and support the People of God in speaking out for the good of their Church.
Serve as a connector between events in one part of the world and others via Zoom.
Invite bishops and pastors to meet with the People of God in dioceses worldwide.
Revive the concept of a National Pastoral Council wherein priests, deacons, religious, and lay people would collaborate with the bishops in specified areas of decision-making. (This would allow for cultural variances to emerge.)
Promote the representation of elected laity in the institutions of the Catholic Church, at all levels;
Seek transparency and accountability at all levels in our Church
Offer our public support of Pope Francis in creating a just, inclusive, and compassionate Church.
Facilitate understanding among lay people who, by virtue of their baptism, have the right and the duty to speak up for the good of our Church

Strategy

Continue to support the development and implementation of building a team of representatives from many reform groups who would consider exploring collaborative actions.
Work with the ISER Consultants and key Ampiadas in Brazil to support and broadcast the Londrina Conference in January 2018.
Work with the Global Council Network by supporting and/or broadcasting the international Forums of the People of God in Brazil (2018) and in Africa (2021)
Offer our support to those organizing national and regional Forums/Synods of the People.
- Work with Christina Reymer to create the Forum in New Zealand
- Work with the American Catholic Council to support a Synod of the People in the U.S.
- Work with any other plans, such as India, to create national or regional forums in that country.
Offer our support to the national Call to Action organization to initiate a committee (Inclusive Church Coordinating Committee) to be made up of church reform activists working collaboratively to exercise a leadership role in bringing church reform into parish communities.
In keeping with the spirit of Pope Francis to include the People of God in the decentralization process:
- Identify, encourage, and support the startup of local meetings initiated by the people
- Invite existing local gatherings to share the results of their meetings
- Collect results from local and regional meetings that other reform groups and we facilitate
- Share this data with Pope Francis, his Council, Synod participants, and Bishops’ Conferences worldwide
- On The People Speak Out website, place data collected from meetings, along with articles and statements presenting logical arguments for key reforms
- Call for papers from theologians around the world to be used as preparation for the Forums.
- Utilize the four position papers already created by the CCRI team

Specific Approaches

Diagnose the causes of the present dysfunctional aspects of our Church.
Encourage the lay Faithful to stop supporting clericalism by their silent compliance.
Encourage the lay Faithful to take a stand, thereby preventing the clergy from” infantilizing” them.
Work through existing local reform groups via the Small Christian Communities.
Promote meetings and/or speakers in local parishes, with corresponding announcements in parish bulletins
Continue to promote our blog: www.ThePeopleSpeakOut.org, encouraging people to share their personal experience as they live their lives in relation to Church teaching
Present letters and other documents to the Pope, his Council, Bishops’ Conferences, and Synod participants, pointing out our main goal of a more participatory Church as well as specific reforms wanted. Such topics could include:
divorced/remarried couples welcomed to the Sacraments
acceptance of the LGBT community and homosexual clergy as welcomed members of the Church, primacy of conscience, especially in relation to artificial contraception
equal rights for women serving in all aspects of the Church.
pastoral support and the need for married clergy
honesty and integrity in dealing with sexual abuse
cultural issues unique to specific countries
institutional recognition of, and support for, grassroots dialogue about governance and policy issues
Write to Presidents/Leaders of Episcopal Conferences and Nuncios on particular issues where their actions could influence the Pope and his Council on issues of justice and inclusion, highlighting the fact that the Church cannot teach what it does not practice.
Build rapport with individual bishops who support reform and secure their consensus on our message.
Prepare Press releases to make our reform issues public. Develop relationships with key journalists and seek their advice to gain their interest in promoting our media releases.
Write to the Synod on Youth in support of changing the “ordo synodi” so that synodality includes masses of young people who are invited to speak up and participate in the small group work sessions.

Year-end Evaluation of our CCRI 2016 Strategic Action Plan

Evaluation:

Looking back on this past year, our strongest accomplishment has been our collaborative work with the Global Council Network and Council 50. With them, we are now working to create a series of Forums of the People of God – a vision that some of you may remember was discussed at our gathering in Rome in 2014. So far, plans call for two international forums: one in Brazil (2018) and one in Africa (2021). A discussion is underway to hold two national forums/synods in New Zealand (2017) and the U.S. (2018), and to consider regional forums/synods in India.

CCRI’s primary role in this process is to amplify and strengthen the voices of the People by supporting local gatherings and encouraging them to speak up about their needs within their church and the changes that would improve their spiritual lives and their ability to become followers of Jesus Christ. To this end, we have been working more closely with Fr. Joe Healey and the thousands of Small Christian Communities operating worldwide. We realized that it is easier and more effective to work through existing group meetings than to initiate new gatherings. Fr. Joe has assigned Alloys Nyakundi to serve as a liaison, gather the outcomes of SCC discussions, and pass them to the Global Council Network and us. This will help set the agenda for the People’s Forums. The SCC’s largest concentration is in Africa, where Peter Mbuchi Methu has joined our team and established direct communication with the top leadership in Nairobi and key individuals at the University and Social Justice Center.

Thanks to Valerie Stroud, our webmaster extraordinaire, we have launched www.ThePeopleSpeakout.org, a universal website that provides A-to-Z information, from how to get started by calling a local gathering to a form for reporting the outcomes of these discussions. Additionally, thanks to Valerie, our own website, www.CatholicChurchReformIntl.org has become a dynamic place to keep up on news from around the world regarding Vatican breaking news and church reform activities.

On behalf of CCRI, we have issued numerous press releases supporting grassroots involvement in all aspects of the Church, including our most recent one regarding the Synod on Youth and Vocations (2018). We have sent emails to over 300 bishops promoting dialogues with the laity. We have sent emails to other reform organizations inviting them to join collaborative efforts to promote greater lay involvement in the Church’s decision-making.