The international We Are Church movement issued a press statement this past weekend in response to the fifth anniversary of Pope Benedict’s papal election. The statement calls on Benedict to begin in earnest the reforms he promised when he became pope.
These should be, in the view of We Are Church, the following:*
These should be, in the view of We Are Church, the following:*
1. The People of God have to be allowed to participate at all levels of our Church so that innovative ways to meet the pastoral challenges of our time can be started. The faithful should have a say in the appointment of their bishops, otherwise Rome will continue appointing bishops who care more for the institution than for their flock.
2. Ecclesial misogyny should come to an end and women be admitted to all church ministries, which need to be ministries of service and not of power.
3. Celibacy should become optional, so that marital love is no longer a taboo for clerics.
4. The results of Human Sciences concerning sexual morals should come to be acknowledged and the primacy of the individual informed conscience should be respected.
5. The Gospel should be proclaimed as an invitation to life in fullness and not a means to discipline people through intimidation.
And, of course, I agree, and this is in part why I am through with even trying to answer the objections of those now engaging in spin control to protect the rotten center and delay systemic reform.
The need is too imperative for us to waste valuable time fighting windmills of illusion and deception, when real problems demand urgent and immediate attention in our church.
The need is too imperative for us to waste valuable time fighting windmills of illusion and deception, when real problems demand urgent and immediate attention in our church.
* Emphasis is in the original.
