To all concerned about the future of the Roman Catholic Church:

Conversations are going on in all parts of the world about the most recent reports of clergy sexual abuse of children that have been covered up by Bishops under the pretext of “protecting the image and reputation of the Church.” The truth is they are only protecting themselves and their clerical status.

We can be silent no longer. It is past time for the baptized Faithful, who are the Church, to take action. We invite you to join with us on our Facebook page and share your views on how we the People of God can move responsibly forward to be the Church as intended by Jesus.

Pope Francis has outlined his vision for a church that is “synodal” at every level, with everyone listening to one another, learning from one another and taking responsibility for proclaiming the Gospel. We at CCRI feel that all of us in the reform movement have spent far too many years trying to communicate with the hierarchy and convince them of the necessity of reform and restructuring within the Church. But are convinced beyond any doubt that our trying to change them is fruitless. Consequently, our strategy is no longer to put our energy into “reforming” the institutional church which seems beyond repair but rather to focus on “re-founding” the Church in the spirit of the early Christians. The Vatican is not the Church. By virtue of our baptism, we are the Church and we believe that we have the responsibility to enrich the future leadership and management of our church. But how? What IS within our power to do is to join or start small faith communities by whatever name they are called in various parts of the world: Intentional Eucharistic Communities (IECs), Base Christian Communities (CEBs), or Small Christian Communities (SCCs). Scroll to the end of this newsletter to learn what you personally can do.

August 31, 2018 Along with We Are Church Int'l, CCRI is asking for your support for young LGBT people attending the Youth Synod (October 2018). Pope Francis has called a Synod on Youth Damage is done when a child or young person is made to feel that being LGBT would...

August 25, 2018 We have remained silent too long. It is time for us, the People of God, regardless of where we are - active Catholic, former Catholic, Christian, and all faiths - to speak out and take an active leadership in bringing us all into the one Body of...

11 June 2018 Pope Francis has said about gay people "Who am I to judge?" But the Catholic Catechism still refers to the LGBT community as "objectively disordered." Would Jesus use these words? Pope Francis is to visit Ireland 25-26 August 2018 and we are calling on...

Year of the Laity In view of giving visibility and voice to the laity in the Catholic Church, CCRI has declared today as the beginning of a worldwide celebration of the Year of the Laity. This will go from the Feast of Christ the King, November 26, 2017, to this same...

October 27, 2017 Calling on all who support Pope Francis: Silence implies Consent - We must Speak Up!  "Alone, the Pope cannot change the world. A Pope for the People needs a People for the Pope." Gaston Roberge, S.J., India Pope Francis is under attack by the...

October 8, 2017 To all who support Pope Francis: Opposition to Pope Francis encourages support to flourish A small minority of Catholics are voicing their disquiet, opposition - even to Pope Francis’s emphasis on mercy and God’s love for all.  You may have read the...

To all supporting the Renewal of our Church: A response from the Vatican re our calling for a Year of the Laity Please consider signing our open letter to Cardinal Kevin Farrell as head of the Dicastery on the Laity Family and Life. As you will see, the letter is an...

Questionnaire to be completed by Young People To involve young people in preparations for the Synod of Bishops on youth in 2018, the Vatican has released the long-awaited online questionnaire YOUNG PEOPLE, THE FAITH AND VOCATIONAL DISCERNMENT to better understand the...

(Please use links at left hand side to find out more about emboldened and underlined text.)

It is amazing how similar the battle for national rights parallels the battle for church rights. This week I received an email from civil rights activist and Georgia house representative, John Lewis. He was a friend of Martin Luther King and was brutally beaten by police in Selma, Alabama, in 1965 while marching for civil rights. In his email, he said: “While we have made progress toward a vision of a more fair, just and open country, the majority of Americans are afraid this country is headed in the wrong direction…. Some leaders reject decades of progress and want to return to the dark past, when the power of law was used to deny the freedoms protected by the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and its Amendments.”

Does that sound familiar for those of us who are working steadily for the reform of our Church? Could we not utter these very same words? “While we have made progress toward a vision of a more fair, just and open [church] , the majority of  [people] are afraid this [church] is still headed in the wrong direction….Some [church] leaders reject decades of progress and want to return to the dark past, when the power of law was used to deny [the message of Jesus that is recorded in the Gospels.”

 Lewis went on to say: “It took massive, well-organized, non-violent dissent and criticism of this great nation and its laws to move toward a greater sense of equality in America….Often, the only way we could demonstrate that a law on the books violated a higher law was by challenging that law. By putting our bodies on the line and showing the world the unholy price we had to pay for dignity and respect.”