Pope Francis invites us to share his dream

The Pope is listening and eager to hear from all the people

Pope Francis is listening and eager to hear from all the people – not only those who are regular Mass attendees but even those who’ve walked away from the institutional Church valuing their personal faith over “Church laws” and prescripts. He has called on every diocese throughout the world urging the bishops to engage in dialogue with the people.

Pope Francis invites us to share his dream

Francis has begun a two-year process for the purpose of creating a radical structural change to the Church that will shift decision making to the people with the bishops carrying out their duties as servant leaders. Countless people have been hurt by the impact of Church laws. Francis is calling these synodal gatherings inviting us to walk together, to share our lived experiences and struggles with the intention of exploring ways that the Church could better respond to the needs and hurts of the people. These gatherings are not meant to be debates but prayerful Spirit-guided sharing of our lived experiences that will lead to our offering solutions to the many issues facing the Church today. These are meant to be deep listening sessions where we are journeying together, walking the path that God is calling the Church to undertake for the third millennium.

Francis has a dream of creating an upside-down pyramid thereby changing the way the Church is structured and governed. But many bishops, fearful of losing their power, are resisting this effort. The change we are seeking is not to change them; the change we are seeking is within us. But if our walking together does, indeed, have the Spirit at its center, then it is possible that the process will drag the existing institution and its hierarchy along with it in a transformation that fulfills the dreams of Vatican II.

If change in the Church is to occur, it is up to us

If change in the Church is to occur, it is up to all of us, the People of God, to make it happen. The old model of a monarchy has been severely compromised by clericalism and the sex abuse crisis. The “synodal way” is not itself a new model but a method reflective of the days of the early Christians. Francis is inviting us to share our dreams for the Christian community in today’s world. He is asking us to generate a process through which governance gravitates away from the hierarchy and toward the whole People of God. It is not the politics of democracy; it is not a parliamentary process. It is governance guided by the Spirit speaking through us.

To quote from the Handbook for this synod: The objective of this Synodal Process is not to provide a temporary or one-time experience of Synodality, but rather to provide an opportunity for the entire People of God to discern together how to move forward on the path towards being a more synodal Church in the long-term.

We have always paid lip service to the “sensus fidelium” – a nice concept which has had little or no supporting process. If Church reform is to come, it will not be through the leadership of the bishops but through the people behaving as mature adults and assuming responsibility for our Church – recognizing that the Church is us.

Francis has invited us to “walk together” but we must walk together with him and the bishops all the way through the Synodal process

We welcome the opportunity to share our lived experiences and seek solutions for better ways to address the hurts we have suffered from the impact of the clerical abuse scandal and many Church laws. But we cannot be satisfied to make our voices heard only through phase one of the synodal process. We cannot stop there and entrust our views to the bishops to carry on into the national conferences of bishops in phase two and onto the universal phase in Rome in phase three. If Francis has invited us to “walk together,” then we must walk together with him and with the bishops all the way through the Synodal process. Our listening sessions and sharing of views must not stop in April 2022 at the end of phase one. We must continue sharing our Spirit-guided insights long-term. The impact of the clerical sexual abuse on the Church is a clear sign that something must change. And if change is to occur, it is up to us, the people to make it happen. If you agree, what can you do? Some suggestions include:

 Let the Office of the Synod of Bishops know that we, the vast majority who make up the Church, must be included – not just in phase one but – all the way through the synodal process by emailing the Office of the Synod of Bishops synodus@synod.va and cc Sr. Nathalie Becquart: n.becquart@synod.va; she is currently the only non-clergy voting member on the Synod Office Leadership team. 

  • Continue holding lay-led synods, small and large, alongside the national synods (October 2022 to April 2023) and the universal synod in Rome (October 2023) and report all outcomes again to the Office of the Synod of Bishops. 
  • Organize public witness gatherings outside all the national conferences worldwide with placards saying something along the lines of “If Francis has invited us to WALK TOGETHER, we the people of God must be walking together with the bishops and pope all the way through the synodal process. Let us in!”
  • Call on the help of organizations who work closely with the poor and the outcast inviting them to join us in this effort to ensure that the voices of the marginalized are well represented at the synodal gatherings.

We invite you to join CCRI in online gatherings

If you are unable to join a synod or start one of your own either online or in your community, we invite you to join CCRI in a series of online gatherings. Let us know if this would interest you: https://catholicchurchreformintl.org/index.php/news/news/337-ccri-synod-registration.

This is our opportunity to respond to the call of Pope Francis, as he says:

“The Spirit continues to guide us in our translating the Good News into different contexts, so that the words of Jesus continue to resound in the hearts of men and women in every age. That is why I like to quote Gustav Mahler, that “tradition is not the repository of ashes but the preservation of fire.”

Regardless of where we are in our standing in the Church – members or non-members – let us all find a way to respond to Pope Francis’s call to “Let us Dream” and be a part of making those dreams a reality.

Supported by Catholic Church Reform International

https://catholicchurchreformintl.org

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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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