Newsletter – 1 September 2016

September 1, 2016

Today we released the following press release as the newly created department for the Laity, Family and Life is officially launched. We offer this for your reading and, if you agree, we invite you to send this out to your local news media. 

If reform is going to come in our Church, it will be because the people are speaking out and being heard. If you want to join in the reform movement, we encourage you to start or join a small local gathering.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Rene Reid
Work phone: 775-825-9196; Cell phone: 775-772-1210
Rene.Reid@CatholicChurchReformIntl.org
www.CatholicChurchReformIntl.org 

Catholic Reform Group Urges New Department for the Laity, Family, and Life to Actively Collaborate with Lay-led Initiatives

Catholic Church Reform Int’l urges newly appointed Bishop Kevin Farrell to welcome and support lay-led initiatives as he launches the Dicastery for the Laity today.

While acknowledging disappointment that a lay person, a family man or woman, was not assigned to head the department for the laity, family and life, through an Open Letter, Catholic Church Reform Int’l congratulates the recently appointed head, Bishop Kevin Farrell, for having long pushed for a greater involvement of the laity in the life of the church. The Reform Group asks specifically for these actions to be part of the new department:

  1.  In filling your 35-member staff, set as a goal that the majority of staff members will be made up of qualified `lay Catholics from various parts of the world who share Pope Francis’s vision for the pastoral care of the Church.
  2.  Staff members will have – not only an advisory role but – an influential and deliberative voice in the proceedings of this department.
  3. When the vision of your department aligns with lay-led initiatives, that you offer your full support and willingness to collaborate with such movements.

“Pope Francis continues to call for the laity to ‘play a major role in the life and mission of the church,'” says CCRI director, Rene Reid. “He seems to recognize that the reform needed will not come without the people speaking up and assuming some leadership. With this new department being launched today, we fully expect lay-led initiatives to be welcomed and supported.” A case in point: In 1968 South American bishops held a conference in Meddellin Columbia where the principles of the Second Vatican Council were emphasized. Now 50 years later in 2018, a group of lay-led Catholics calling themselves Council 50 are calling for a People’s Synod to be held in Brazil to carry on the work still left undone by the Vatican Council. “We’ve had two recent synods attended primarily by bishops. The time is right to call a People’s Synod and we hope to see this new dicastery support us in our efforts,” says Ed Schreurs, a member of both CCRI and Council 50. The group is currently in process of collecting an opinion poll and calling local dialogue meetings for the purpose of producing statements that will be placed on the agenda of the 2018 Synod. Agreeing with the critical importance of calling local gatherings where the people can share their opinions with one another, Catholic Church Reform Int’l is currently encouraging these small local gatherings in communities in various cities around the world. All are welcomed to participate and let their voice be heard.

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Speaking Out with One Unified Global Voice

"...Until we raise a common voice, we will not only not be heard, we will not even be listened to....   

My hope is that by speaking out together - a strong chorus of calls for reform - we can provide a common, a clear, a strong and ongoing voice for the yet incomplete vision of Vatican II.

In common cause, let us band together across the world. By our desire to be heard on particular issues - all of them important - let us not lose the strength of our common voice by reducing it to a whisper.

In light of this, we invite individuals and organizations to join together in making known our opinions for the good of our Church. By uniting our voices, it is not about abandoning the unique work of your organization but rather about how your work can enhance global reform."

Sr. Joan Chittister, CCRI Special advisor

"We have to join our forces in order to reach a real breakthrough in this window of opportunity." Hans Kung, CCRI Consultor


"When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion." [Ethiopian proverb]


"Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable." [Kenyan proverb]

"(The Christian faithful) have the right and even at times the duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful." (Canon 212 §3)

CCRI is also interested in helping support various causes in regions of the world by garnering the support of our entire global community for those who need support beyond their parish, organization, or locale. Send us (1) your name and affiliation, or (2) the name of your group with some description of your goals, membership, and numbers. Click here to see those organizations who have already joined together speaking out for reform of our Church.



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