IRELAND
Irish Times
Tim O’Brien
Mon, Sep 30, 2013
Efforts by the Catholic church to preach justice and equality are being stymied because of a failure to address these issues internally, more than 100 Catholic groups – including three from Ireland – have told Pope Francis.
In response to the pope’s call for dialogue within the church , the groups who claim to represent four million Catholics around the world, have co-signed a letter to Pope Francis urging widespread reform including shared decision making among all baptised members of the church, regardless of gender or sexual orientation.
The Irish groups which are signatories to the letter include the Association of Catholic Priests, the Association of Catholics in Ireland and We are the Church Ireland.
The letter , which was sent in advance of a key meeting of Cardinals tomorrow to examine church governance makes five points.
These are:
That the Roman Catholic Church’s commitment to justice is compromised “and is often viewed as hypocritical” because injustice exists within the church itself.
“That dialogue urged by Pope Francis is incompatible with the censorship or sanctioning of ordained members of the church.
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