The People Speak Out

Local voices connecting globally

This is important: to get to know people, listen, expand the circle of ideas. The world is crisscrossed by roads that come closer together and move apart, but the important thing is that they lead towards the Good.  (Pope Francis)

Canon Law 212 calls upon the laity to speak up:

2 - The Christian faithful are free to make known to the pastors of the Church their needs, especially spiritual ones, and their desires.

§3. - According to the knowledge, competence, and prestige which they possess, they have the right and even at times the duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful, without prejudice to the integrity of faith and morals, with reverence toward their pastors, and attentive to common advantage and the dignity of persons.

We envision a Church that follows “the way of Jesus.” It is one which places itself in service to all, lives out a message of love, justice, and peace, and is a truly synodal church wherein the faithful have a place at the table and a voice in governing and in ministries. We are the People of God on a pilgrim journey with equality, inclusiveness, and mutuality as an integral part of our community. The hierarchical structure of the Church must be integrated with the sensus fidelium.

Social Justice

Jesus taught that to have life we must do two things: love God and love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:35-40). This is our primary calling as Christians: to love one another, to stand in solidarity with the poor, the less fortunate, immigrants seeking refuge from tyranny, and the like. Yet, this is not a message often heard from the pulpit. Rarely do we hear homilies that loving a neighbor means confronting oppression, racism, inequality, or poverty, and working to alleviate these burdens. Rarely do we hear about how this great commandment of love translates to a commandment of bringing about the kingdom in real life by ending social ills that starve and subjugate brothers and sisters.

 The Catholic Church works for justice through many organizations, Catholic Charities and Catholic Relief Services among them, in addition to the multitude of programs and services supported and sustained within dioceses throughout the world. Since the late 1800’s, popes have written encyclicals on workers’ rights, civil rights, immigration, climate change, etc. Catholic writers also address justice issues. Catholic sisters are on the front lines as strong advocates and role models. But many priests avoid promoting social justice actions fearful of disturbing some of their wealthy parishioners.

To become the Church we envision, we recommend:

  • There be a stronger commitment to the social Gospel both in the Church and civil society.1
  • Our congregations work together with other faith communities on these issues.2 These are issues that all faiths are committed to, there is no difference of belief on the actions that must be taken. Many of the laity already do wonderful work with interfaith groups. But we’d like to see more of an example set by our leaders.

 

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1 The average church goer rarely hears about social justice being a constitutive dimension of the Gospel. Justice in the World, World Synod of Catholic Bishops 1971

2 JustFaith Ministries has taught social justice program to over 60,000 people in the US over the past 25 years. Their programs should be required for priests. Some priests feel that they will be “contaminated” by associating with other ministers and rabbis. A valuable opportunity is being squandered.

Role of Women in the Church

Scripture and Christian tradition unequivocally demonstrate the role of women in the early Christian church.  Throughout the New Testament, particularly Paul’s letters and in the Book of Acts, we find that women presided at the assembly of the ekklesia (church) which met in their homes. Because they were heads of households, these women were also Eucharistic presiders. Examples include:

  • Mark’s mother, Mary of Jerusalem, who was the leader of a house church in Jerusalem. It was to this house that Peter went when an angel released him from prison (Acts 12:12-17).  Just inside the entrance, set into a pillar, is an inscribed stone discovered during a restoration in 1940. Its inscription, believed to be from the 6th century, is in ancient Syriac. It says: “This is the house of Mary, mother of John, called Mark. Proclaimed a church by the holy apostles under the name of Virgin Mary, mother of God, after the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ into heaven. Renewed after the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in the year AD 73.”
  • Lydia was a businesswoman from Thyatira and a major figure in the early church. The church at Philippi began with her conversion and she led the house church which met in her home (Acts 16:11-15).
  • From Paul’s letters, it is clear that Prisca and Aquila were hosts to house churches in Ephesus and in Rome (1 Cor 16:19and Rom 16:3-5). The reference to them offering hospitality to Paul in Corinth (Acts 18:2-3; 18:18-9:1) suggests that this may have been the case in Corinth as well. The fact that in four out of six of the times Prisca and Aquila are mentioned, Prisca is mentioned before her husband points to the more prominent role in the leadership of the early church.  Her ministry would have included preaching, teaching, presiding over the church in her house (including the Eucharist) and serving as a patron..

Phoebe was a leader in the church at Cenchrae. Paul described her as a diakonos (minister) of the ekklesia (church) in Cenchrae. Paul’s commendation of Phoebe indicates that she carried his letter to Rome, and therefore was responsible for authoritative interpretation of the letter to its recipients.

In Romans 16:7 we read, “Greet Andronicus and Junia…they are prominent among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.”  While Mary of Magdala was given the title “Apostle to the Apostles” by the second century church father, Hippolytus, Junia is directly referred to as an apostle in the New Testament.

Christian tradition also holds evidence of women’s leadership in the early church. In a side chapel in the church of St. Praxedis in Rome is a group portrait in mosaic of four women ministers:  Mary, the mother of Jesus; Saints Praxedis and Pudentiana; and Theodora Episcopa, a bishop of the church in Rome. Other archeological evidence of women in ministry includes Sofia the Deacon fourth century Christian community in Jerusalem; and Veneranda and Petronella, who are depicted with signs of their ministry (a codex and a capsa, both representations of Scripture).

In more recent times, we have the story of priest Ludmila Javorova, who in 1970, along with at least seven other women, was secretly ordained by Bishop Felix Maria Davidek of the underground Catholic Church in Czechoslovakia.  Instead of lauding her courageous act of faith and evangelization, the Vatican forbade her to exercise her priesthood in 1996, with the reason that her ordination was invalid simply because she is a woman.

  • The church has acknowledged that there is no Scriptural basis for the exclusion of women from priestly ordination. [Paul VI Pontifical Commission on “The Function of Women in Society and the Church”, 1973; report leaked in 1975.]
  • Archeological evidence “from at least the 3rd century plainly demonstrates women acting in priestly roles.” (Dr. Ally Kateuz to “Root and Branch”—Bristol, UK, presentation 9/10-12/2021.)
  • Pope Gelasius I 9 (492-496) “Nevertheless, we have heard to our annoyance that divine affairs have come to such a low state that women are encouraged to officiate at the sacred altars, to take part in all matters imputed to offices of the male sex, to which they do not belong.”

The present Church, however, has (de)evolved to become a male led institution. While we acknowledge Pope Francis for recently introducing a few lay women into the Curia, church leadership remains primarily male. Exclusion appears to be based on the social sins of patriarchy, sexism, and in some cases, misogyny, which are especially evident in parts of the Vatican Curia.

To become the Church we envision, we recommend:

  • Ordination be available to women based on the historical reality that there were women in the early Church who presided at the Eucharist.
  • The most qualified Catholics, be they men or women, clergy or laity, be appointed to positions of authority in the Church.

Church Governance

From its beginning the Church governed itself in a synodal way. 

This style of governance was the common practice until around 750 AD.

  1. Acts 1:15-26: Election of Judas’s Replacement [ca. 30 AD] “There were about 120 persons present in the congregation. . .having nominated two candidates. . .’Lord. . .show us. . .which of those you have chosen’. . .the lot fell to Mathias.”
  2. Acts 6:1-6: The discrimination against the gentile widows and the appointment of seven non-Jews [Hellenists] to take care of their needs “so the twelve called a full meeting of the disciples. ‘you my brothers and sisters [of non-Jewish background] must select from yourselves seven men of good reputation and hand over this duty to them. . .The whole assembly approved of this proposal and elected Stephen. . .”
  3. Acts 15:1-29: “Council of Jerusalem [49 AD] Discerning and declaring: One does not have to become a Jew in order to be a member of Christ’s Body.  “But certain members of the Pharisees’ party who have become believers. . .insisting that the pagans should be circumcised and instructed to keep the Law of Moses:  After a contentious meeting with speeches by Peter and James, James proclaimed “I rule then. . we send . . .a letter telling them [the gentile converts] merely to abstain from anything polluted by idols. . .from fornication, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.”  “Then the apostles and elders decided to choose delegates to send to Antioch with Paul and Barabbas; the whole Church concurred in this.”

Between the Resurrection and about 750 AD, a community of churches coordinated the various communities by means of local and regional synods and church-wide “Ecumenical Councils.” The Western Church became a monarchy under Pope Gregory VII in 1085.  The Roman Catholic Church became an absolute monarchy during the 1869-70 Vatican I Council, with the pope as the absolute, final authority; he was declared infallible with no checks and balances. We note that this contradicted the Council of Constance, 1414, that declared the pope was subject to an Ecumenical Council.

Under the present governing structure only the ordained—pastors, bishops and pope—each an absolute monarch in their own realm—have a determinative authority. [Canon # 129, under Title VIII, “The Power of Governance.”]  It is our observation that the absolute monarchical structure—as is the case in all situations in which such structures occur—by its very nature leads to falsehoods, oppression, injustices, and other types of corruption to protect and expand their control.  Consequently, it is a generator and nurturer of scandals. The current sexual abuse and cover-up crisis is the ultimate example whereby the victims have been persecuted with lack of due process for the perpetrators. It is our belief that the social sin of clericalism is symbiotic of an absolute monarchical governing structure.

           

To become the Church we envision, we recommend:

  • Church Governance at all levels reflect synodality in which all adult baptized persons are not only consulted but also have a determinative voice—that is, a vote regarding major decisions, including decisions about faith and morals.

“All baptized in Christ, you have all clothed yourselves in Christ, and there are no more distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, but all of you are one in Christ Jesus” [Galatians 3:27-28]

  • Church governance should reflect the principle of subsidiarity, i.e. governance should be at the lowest level possible, that has been so beautifully stated in the social encyclicals of the Church.
  • The baptized have a determinative voice regarding the selection (and retention) of those who will be their leaders. This includes pastors and bishops.
  1. As early as the 3rd century, Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage (249-258) said: “The entire community—clergy, laity, and neighboring bishops—should participate in the selection of episcopal leaders.”
  2. Continuing into the 5th century, Pope Leo I, The Great (440-461) said: “He who is over all should be elected by all.
  • The Church return to the way it began in the early church and carried through the 5th
  • The Church as a human institution to be open to admitting its faults, walk humbly, and willing to be transformed. It is a living institution to become dynamic and not static.

Priesthood

In today’s Church, priesthood has become equated with clericalism. The current state of the priesthood has created a “royal” class of men who believe and act as though they are set apart and therefore better than those they serve.

 

Restricting priesthood to celibate men has deprived communities of sufficient native clergy and has limited the quality of the priesthood and the gifts that the Spirit has showered on the Church. To solve this problem, the hierarchy has brought in foreign priests who do not understand the culture and speak with heavy accents difficult to understand. Restricting priesthood to male celibacy has limited the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It has eliminated all possibility of married men and all women regardless of their status.

The ever-growing shortage of men willing to accept celibacy in the priesthood results in parish closings and a “Eucharistic famine” in such places as Latin America, Africa, and Asia. The call for vocations is being heard. The Church is simply not listening.

To become the Church we envision, we recommend:

  • Servant Leadership, i.e., a theology of the priesthood that emphasizes service above everything else. As Pope Francis has said: “Priests to have the smell of the sheep.” Jesus’ teaching for one who would be a leader in his/her community was to be a servant to all:

“You know that among the pagans the rulers lord it over them, and their great men make their authority felt. No; anyone who wants to be great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be the first must be your slave, just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve.”  [Mt 20:25-28]

  • Celibacy to be optional for ordination the priesthood.
  • Women ordained to the deaconate as a first step.
  • Ordination to the priesthood to be open to both married men and women.
  • Reformation of seminaries no longer setting them apart but integrating them with laity at universities and other places.
  • Two year “mission” to actively share our faith with others as part of seminary formation.
  • Continuing education to be required annually for priests and bishops.
  • Pastors and bishops to be chosen by their potential congregations.
  • Priests to be accountable to the people they serve.
  • Lay formation/education to assume greater leadership roles in parishes and dioceses.

 

Healing Church teaching That Has Been Hurtful

   There are several areas where Church teachings have not been consistent with the message of Jesus:

  1. Divorced/remarried couples who have not received an annulment have been accused of living in adultery with no consideration for their personal situation.
  2. The LGBTQ community, without any consideration for their personal situation, are described as a “disordered state.”
  3. The Church has an obsession with sexuality, abortion, and reproductive morality. Many people believe that the beginning of the decline of the Roman Catholic Church began in 1968 with the publication of “Humane Vitae.” We believe that happened because of the excessive power of the Pope and the Curia and their failure to listen to the Sensus Fidei. Powerful clergy led by Cardinal Ottaviani were led to overrule the Spirit in the People of God. Pope Benedict had to resign because of the corrupt Curia. The Bishops of the U.S. and all over the world have continued to lose credibility with the Sexual Abuse scandal.
  4. Priest or bishop who scolds, demeans, and expresses anger at someone questioning Church teachings and Church promulgated belief (faith or morals) or policy. Personal situations in specific areas to be considered moving away from autocracy toward more flexibility.
  5. Behavior of autocratic bishops and priests—“My way or the highway”— threatening eternal damnation to those who question their behavior or decisions.
  6. Automatic excommunication [latae sententiae] of those involved in abortion [Canon 1398] or of women who are ordained a priest, while male priests who have committed “soul murder” by sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable adults and their cover-up bishops are at most defrocked.

 

To become the Church we envision, we recommend:

  • The annulment process be disbanded. It is offensive to many people to base “annulling” their marriage (as though it never existed) after bringing children into the world.
  • Professional pre-marriage counseling to be required.
  • Divorced/remarried Catholics be given a path back to the Sacraments. After professional marriage counseling is sought and the marriage cannot be saved, when a man or woman mates with a loving partner, a well-formed primacy of conscience to take precedence.
  • LGBTQ community to be treated respectfully and welcomed into the Church as children of God.
  • Scientific research recognizes that certain individuals are born with an attraction to the same sex and should be allowed to love that person.
  • New views of sexuality to be developed which emphasize the loving nuances and spiritual aspects of sexuality.
  • With regard to abortion, the church should be concerned not only for the unborn child but for all children brought into this world who are born in dire poverty, and for all human life, throughout and to the end of life.  This is a concern that should equal that of opposition to the death penalty.
  • With regard to reproductive morality, Humanae Vitae to be overturned. It has failed the criterion of “reception” by overwhelming rejection of the sensus fidei.
  • We must reduce the absolute power of the Bishops and increase the governance of the church by listening to the sensus fidei.
  • Parents to have the right to decide the size of their own family by choosing to use more reliable forms of birth control than natural family planning.

 

Institutional Church Reformation

In the early days of the Church, Christians gathered in homes, catacombs, or other gathering places to support one another and break bread together. See Acts 2:42 – 47:

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

By the fourth century, Constantine’s influence turned the Church into a hierarchical system. And by the 12 century, to address the problem of priests leaving church property to their families, Church hierarchy instituted a male celibate lifestyle. We believe it is time for the Church return to many of the characteristics of the early Christians.

 

To become the Church we envision, we recommend:

  • Restructuring of hierarchy beginning with papacy, curia, bishops, clergy. We applaud Pope Francis for already beginning this process with reorganizing the Curia to focus on evangelization and the role of lay people.
  • Parish councils to be mandated in all parishes as the governing body of the parish. They should have an approved selection process so that it is truly selected by and representative of the faithful. The laity must be voting participants and not just advisors who strive to reach a consensus with the pastor. If they are unable to reach consensus, they must submit to a reconciliation/review board set up by the diocese.
  • To end abuse of clerical authority, pastors to be accountable to a parish council.
  • Recognition of Small Christian Communities as a formal part of the Church.
  • Church to be ruled by the Gospel of love transforming Church laws into a spirit of compassion.
  • Restructuring the synod process itself from a hierarchical one to an inclusive one with the people walking together throughout the entire synod all the way through to the universal synod in Rome in October 2023.

More Meaningful Liturgy of the Word and the Eucharist

In most parishes, Mass has become too rote with little relevance to what is happening in the world or in the lives of the participants. The prayers in the Roman Missal are generic and do not connect with the theme and scriptures of the day. The Church did a service by providing us with a three-year cycle of readings, connecting the first reading and the Gospel in ordinary times and all three readings during the special seasons of the year. However, it did not integrate the liturgical prayers with the readings. There are many gifted groups who can provide us with prose and poetry and the connections of our prayer and scripture themes to enhance our celebration of the source and summit of our worship and prayer.

To become the Church we envision, we recommend:

  • The guidelines of Vatican II be followed which called for full, active, and conscious participation of the faithful. The Eucharistic Prayers for children give us a model of the faithful interacting with the presider. This interaction to be incorporated for both children and adults.
  • All are welcomed to take part in the banquet. The Eucharist is nourishment for those who need it, not a reward for the perfect.
  • Eucharist to involve the entire community led by a person chosen by the community.
  • Celibacy not be a prerequisite for the celebrant of the Eucharist. We need local leaders – men or women, celibate or married – to fill the gap of priesthood where lacking. [It is interesting to note that ordination was not required to celebrate the Eucharist until Pope Innocent’s decree in 1208, Profession of Faith Prescribed to the Waldenesians.]
  • Homilies be given by competent professional speakers, including women.
  • Flexibility to allow for the inclusion of the tribulations, globally and/or locally, within the Eucharistic prayer, in addition to their inclusion in the prayers of the faithful.
  • Respect for all cultures, and for cultures within different parishes, allowing the celebration of liturgy in a way that enhances prayer and deepens meaning for each, i.e. including movement, dance.  (The custom put forward that a Catholic could go to any church in the world and find that the Mass is the same everywhere speaks to a value that is not equal to the value of meaningful worship for the church’s members.)  

Interfaith Dialogue

The new apostolic constitution, Praedicate Evangelium, will be implemented on June 5th.  This radical re-structuring of the Roman Curia replaces the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith with a streamlined Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.  Governance or administration will be separated from orders.  Crucially, governance will be open to lay leadership of a professional and competent caliber. The most important of the sixteen dicasteries, Dicastery for Evangelization, is presided over by the Pope indicating its centrality in the new structure of the Roman Curia.

This dicastery asks fundamental questions of evangelization in the world.  It is asking us to “Put out into the deep and let down your nets to catch some fish” (Luke 5:4).  Going out to all humankind, Christian and non-Christian alike, to the deep, the unknown, the margins of our society.  It is a call for interreligious dialog including proactively going out to the peripheries of our own societies.  

Seeking co-responsibility with other faiths and traditions is a challenge for the development of interreligious dialog.  It mirrors the engagement to co-responsibility called for between the laity and hierarchy in Praedicate Evangelium.

In the spirit of Fratelli Tutti and Gaudium Spes, at this moment in the history of the church, in every part of the world it is important to have dialog with people of other faiths. Out in the deep there is a place for shared worship of the same God without compromising the unicity and salvific universality of Jesus Christ.  This manifestation of sensus fidelium may be the most important field for the future.

In the Church we envision:

  • Priests be open to working with leaders and ministers of other faiths in approaching social justice issues.
  • Priests work with other faiths to address the decline of membership and of the loss of young people.
  • Priests, bishops, and the people to work together to address the threats of Christian nationalism.

 

CONCLUSION

  • We envision a Church that follows “the way of Jesus”, that lives out the message of love, justice, and peace by having a strong commitment to the social Gospel. In this Church women will have a key role, being ordained to the priesthood and placed in positions of authority. Women deacons should be ordained immediately, because of the pressing need. Synodality must reign, with all the baptized having a voice and working toward the goals of the Church.  Priests must be chosen from their communities and answerable to their communities and their education and ministry must be grounded in servant leadership. The Church must warmly welcome those who have been hurt, marginalized and even ostracized by the institutional Church, such as divorced people, the LGBTQ community, and women who have had an abortion. The laity must be voting participants and not just observers in the governing of the Church. The Eucharist is the lifeblood of the community and must be seen as nourishment for those who need it and not a reward for the perfect.  Following the guidelines of the Vatican II Council, more emphasis must be placed on the Liturgy of the Word and how it is proclaimed to the community.  All of these goals should be undertaken with the advice and support of other faith communities.  They are facing the same issues of decline of membership and the loss of young as the Catholic Church. 
  • We pray that the Synod will strongly consider these suggestions because they are the fruit of countless hours of prayer and discussion. We thank Pope Francis for initiating this process and allowing our voices to be heard. We truly believe that they are the result of the workings of the Holy Spirit. We pray for the swift implementation of these measures.
  • Finally, it is our hope that this synod process will be transformed from a hierarchical one to an inclusive one with the people walking together throughout the entire synod all the way through to the universal synod in Rome in October 2023. We appreciate that this worldwide event has given us, the people, an opportunity to listen to one another and to share our Spirit-guided insights about our Church. But this is not enough if the remainder of the process is a gathering of only bishops, of only men too many of whom are trained in clericalism. If we have been invited to walk with the bishops, then we must be welcomed to walk with them in the entirety of the synodal process, all the way through and including the 20idi23 Synod in Rome. If this is to be truly synodal, it cannot be a gathering of the hierarchy without an appropriate representation of the people also included.

 

Submitted by a group consisting of Catholic faithful, clergy, religious, and former Catholics:

Chris Grove <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>; Charlie Gibson This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; Barbara Guerin This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; Tami Welch This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; Bonnie Gibson This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; Robert Everard Buchanan This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; Patricia Nagle (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)'; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; Deanna Spatz This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; Kathleen Ellertson This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; teresa subry <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>; Colleen Harvey This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; martha brown <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.;This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.;    This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; Sister Karen Schwane <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>; Rene Reid This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.