Vaticanelle
The highlight of the presentations during the We Are Church Int’l meetings was Vaticanelle – parady play of an all female hierarchy weighing the requests from men to be accepted into the prieshood. Lines used in this performance are the exact lines being used by the bishops for why women cannot be accepted into the priesthood. Click here to see the trailer. Will follow with the full video when it is posted.
Eucharistic Celebration with We Are Church Int’l
We celebrated a communal Mass with all who gathered with us. For some of us, it was the highlight of our time in Rome so far. Beautiful, thoughtfully-chosen readings such as from 1Peter: “We look forward to possess the rich belessings that God keeps for his people….You love him, although you have not seen him; you believe in him, although you do not now see him….You are the chosen race, the King’s priests, the holy nation, God’s own people, chosen to proclaim the wonderful acts of God, who called you from the darkness into his own marvelous light.”
The Eucharistic prayers were shared among us all. We served each other at Communion and blessed each oher one by one. Gert Heizer led us in joyous music with his beautiful guitar playing.
The Spirit was truly present with us.
Report from We Are Church Int’l meetings
September 12-14, 2024
The meetings were led by Colm Holmes and Martha Heizer and included We are Church Germany, Austria, Italy, Ireland, UK, Scotland, Pakistan, and U.S. among others.
The meeting was begun by Martin Schockenhoff of Germany who shared the summary of the reports given from the day before:
- As they are getting older and their numbers are decreasing. Therefore it is critical that we engage younger people.
- Interest in Synod 2023 was greater than in Synod 2024. People are disappointed especially regarding women’s equality. Delegates don’t even know who is on Committtee 5, women’s ordination to the deaconate.
- Francis has no interest in discussing women’s roles in the Church. With conservative bishops, there is only a minority of reform-minded. What will the Synod do with all these points being raised? Can positions be adopted locally?
- The outcome of the Synod is still to be determined but reformers last year held greater hope than any of us do this year.
- Young people must become involved. Success depends on both the established reformers and those just coming in. Martha added that this underscores the importance of the Catholic Church Constitution written by the Wijngaards Institute.
- The importance of strengthening Small Christian Communities was noted.
Kathleen added that in a conversation with Emilce Cuda, the secretary to Pope Francis on behalf of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, we learned that Francis is promoting numerous women to significant positions within the Vatican but is disappointed that bishops are not following suit. Gemma Lamarra from Scotish Laity Network pointed out that the pope is fine to appoint women to managerial positions but opposed to allowing them to assume ministerial roles.
Elza Ferrario, with We are Church Italy, reported on her meeting in the Philippines with 40 young people all over Asia. She will have a PowerPoint presentation out soon and we’ll make that available.
Strategies for the future
(where do we go from here)
On October 8, the Vatican held a press conference. It was noted that not a single journalist attended. For future strategies, how do we best get the information out to media. Marianne Duddy-Burke from DignityUSA suggested that it needs to be thorough communication strategy not a media strateagy, e.g. short sound bites less than 30 seconds and social media posts. Mauro Castagnaro from Italy suggested that we could learn from other church affiliations such as the Anglicans how they promote their reform movements. Virgina Saldanha from India suggested that press conferences impress bishops. Overall, the question is how do we share analysis of the obstacles we face. Mauro suggesed through Zoom meetings.
Luca Badini sent in a suggestion that reform groups who’ve done research on specific topics should might consider sending them into the specific committtee covering that issue. For example, the work done by the Wijngaards Institute on Women’s Deaconate should be sent to comittee number 5. Research he and Margaret Mary Moore did on Selection of Church Leadership involving the People in the decision-making and that done by Fr. Tom Reese should be sent to Ggroup 7 committee shown below. It has been further suggested that these submissions go through a theologian or participant from the Synod.
You can imagine Rene’s surprise when saw the rather notable picture on the back wall in our meeting room. This was Rene’s religous community and she wore that same habit until 1965 when II Vatican recommended that the community modernize.
Interim Reports from the Ten Committees
The interim reports from the ten committees established by Pope Francis have been released. Click here to read the reports. Choose your language.
Report Group 1
Some aspects of the relations between Eastern Catholic Churches and the Latin Church
Report Group 2
Listening to the cry of the poor
Report Group 3
The mission in the digital environment
Report Group 4
The revision of the Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis in a synodal missionary perspective
Report Group 5
Some theological and canonical questions around specific ministerial forms
Report Group 6
The revision, in a synodal and missionary perspective, of the documents on the relations between Bishops, Consecrated Life, Ecclesial Aggregations
Report Group 7
Some aspects of the figure and the ministry of the Bishop (in particular: criteria for selecting candidates for the episcopate, judicial function of the Bishop, nature and conduct of the visits ad limina Apostolorum) in a missionary synodal perspective
Report Subgroup 7
The Bishop – Father and Judge
Report Group 8
The role of papal representatives in a missionary synodal perspective
Report Group 9
Synodal theological and methodological criteria for the shared discernment of controversial doctrinal, pastoral and ethical questions
Report Group 10
The reception of the fruits of the ecumenical journey in ecclesial practices
Report
Commission on polygamy
Report
Canonists
A Birthday Party to Remember in Rome
Robert Choiniere’s birthday party in Rome
The forty-five guests at Robert’s party were the whose who of the Vatican and those heavily involved in Synodality. Of most importance were the students some of whom will be meeting on Zoom this coming Friday evening, October 18, at 5:00 p.m. Rome time. In all, 130 US undergraduate and graduate students from 15 Catholic colleges and universities will meet with Cardinal Grech, Cardinal Hollerich, Sr. Nathalie Becquart and Bishop Flores for a one hour live streamed conversation on synodality from the Paul VI Synod Hall.
Students will have an opportunity to ask questions and engage in dialogue with Synod leaders to discuss the future of the synodal church and issues of importance to the students, all of whom have been studying synodality this semester. The session will be live streamed and watch parties are forming in each of the sponsoring schools in the US. The event will be moderated by the USCCB Synod Staff. The link to the Zoom session will be posted on the Vatican website. We will also send it out once it is posted.
As we met with various guests, we spoke with:
- Emilce Cuda, mentioned earlier, who meets with Francis on a daily basis. She will be a good person to reach out to when we need direct contact with the pope.
- Sister Bernadette Rudolphe from Philadelphia who is heavily involved in synodal gatherings.
- Fr. Ricardo de Silva, S.J. who works for America Media.
- Adela Gonzalez who is the director of Worldwide Women’s Organization.
- Sister Beatrice Faye, a theologian in the Synod, who began a school of Synodality for French-speaking Africans.
We joined with other reformers at St. Peter’s Square in Rome on Sunday during the Angeles. If you look behind in the center, you can see the screen shot of Francis. Look further to the left and you can see him actually standing at the window. We were able to hold th sign up long enough to capture a picture. Then some of us were led away by the police. Two of our members were handcuffed and held for several hours. Most were escorted away, vetted, and then released within the hour.
When Rene was led away with the others, as they guided us through the gate outside the square, she managed to take a step back . . . and another . . . and another . . . until she slipped into the crowd unnoticed . . . and escaped the ordeal.
Your donations are most appreciated
YOUR GIFT – IN ANY AMOUNT – IS PRICELESS
When you make a donation to support our cause, you join with others who are investing in restoring our Church to what Jesus intended. The dollars we receive are used to run our programs and to reach a broad spectrum of the People of God. We are focused on reaching out to the Faithful, reform activists, young adults as well as those who feel abandoned by the Church, to mention just a few. Your personal contributions in offering your suggestions and your donations are most appreciated.
We have begun to genuinely join our voices together behaving as a synodal Church. Let us now stay abreast of what is happening with each stage of the Synod from now through 2024 and beyond. The real work of becoming a synodal Church is still ahead of us. It is crucial that we stay involved in the process. We will keep you informed and continue to gather online as a community.
On behalf of the CCRI steering committee,
Rene Reid, CCRI director