OHIO
Beacon Journal
By Colette M. Jenkins
Beacon Journal religion writer
The Rev. Helmut Schuller, the reformist Austrian priest who advocates for institutional change and inclusive priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church, will stop in Northeast Ohio this week for two speaking engagements.
Schuller will present The Catholic Tipping Point: Conversations with Helmut Schuller at 7 p.m. Thursday at Independence Middle School, 6111 Archwood Road, and at noon Friday at the Cleveland City Club, 850 Euclid Ave.
His talks are part of a 15-city national tour that began Tuesday in New York City and ends Aug. 6 on Long Island.
Other stops on the tour include Seattle; Los Angeles; Cincinnati; Detroit; Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; and Boston, where Cardinal Sean O’Malley issued a statement forbidding Schuller from speaking on Catholic property in the archdiocese.
Schuller gained international attention in 2011 when his organization, the Austrian Priests’ Initiative, spearheaded a “Call to Disobedience.” The call, which according to published reports garnered support from more than 70 percent of Austrian priests, called for such reforms as greater lay leadership, allowing “believers of good will” to participate in the Holy Eucharist and opening ordination to women and married men as a way of addressing the worsening priest shortage in the church.
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