UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter
Joan Chittister | Jul. 3, 2014 From Where I Stand
Watch the TV ads carefully these days. You may not have much interest in the particular product they’re selling at any particular time, but if you listen carefully, you can certainly learn a lot there about ecclesiastical physics. One advert teaches: “A body at rest tends to stay at rest; a body in motion tends to stay in motion.” And another one says: “Every action creates a reaction.” So there you have it. That’s exactly what’s going on in the church right now.
Whole bodies of people are moving forward while the bishops stay at rest. Most important of all, when the hierarchical church finally called for a response from the church at large about something important — marriage, family, relationships — material poured out of every lay group in the country. The data were clear: The laity was eager to respond. They wanted to be part of the conversation. They wanted to give back to the church the fruits of the sacrament the church has bestowed on them.
But not in one area alone or from one group alone.
For instance, the Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland has asked their bishop representatives to present three proposals to the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference with a view to forwarding them to Rome. Their proposals for official consideration include the acceptance of married priests, the ordination of women to the diaconate, and the recall of laicized priests to priestly ministry. …
Here, in our own case, an American-initiated global network of Catholics and Christians, Catholic Church Reform International, in collaboration with more than a hundred church organizations and individuals from 65 countries is calling for all Catholics to have an influential voice in the decision-making of the church.
They are taking the pope seriously. Pope Francis invited the church to prepare for the upcoming extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family by reporting to their bishops their own responses to the papal survey on the subject.
Catholic Church Reform International, in fact, is urging that all forms of family life be represented and invited to participate in the upcoming Synod of Bishops on the family. They “want a voice in the church.” Their document is clear: “Both knowledge and experience of the challenges faced by families need to be understood before meaningful resolutions can be reached.”
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