Help renew the Catholic Church
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HELP RENEW THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
The Catholic Church is in serious crisis. It needs urgent change.
The main problem is that total power and control is in the hands of the priests and bishops; the laity have no official voice. The excessive power of the clergy, not surprisingly, often leads to its misuse and abuse. This phenomenon is called ‘clericalism’.
Pope Francis has expressed deep concern about this clerical culture.
It is the people in the pews that finance the life of the church, but all control and decisions are fully in the hands of the clergy; and there is little or no accountability or transparency.
Many church historians and commentators are calling for the laity, world-wide, to get active, to take responsibility and initiate change.
I am with them 100 per cent, as are a group of disaffected and disenfranchised Catholics, which I founded and support, called ‘Inclusive Catholics’.
The time is past for the laity to be submissive and leave all the power and responsibility in the hands of the clerics.
We must take back some control and become trully co-responsible.
The laity have been voiceless for too long, and risk our beloved church continuing to implode.
Inclusive Catholics is a faith community, in Melbourne, Australia, on the fringe of the Catholic Church; and it has become clear to us that the initial critical step is for the laity to get organized!
I believe, the laity of every parish, in every diocese, everywhere needs to establish their own ‘House of the Laity’.
This House will manage the finances, have official input into matters of faith and morals, and the governance and mission of their parish.
This House of the Laity must be organised in parallel with the structure that the clerics enjoy, so that the two bodies can speak to each other, and fully collaborate on an equal footing, with true co-responsibility.
This is a radical shift for the church, but an essential one, if there is to be real and lasting renewal.
I am committed to promoting, and help implementing, this initiative globally, for we are a global church. I hope and pray (and ask for your prayers), that this concept will spread to parishes everywhere.
I am launching this initiative on the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation; when Martin Luther (a Catholic Augustinian monk), nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, on 31st October, 1517.
I nail this radical new initiative to the hearts and minds of Catholics worldwide.
Without a ‘House of the Laity’, any involvement of the laity in the governance of the church remains simply tokenism. Within the confines of the Church Canon Law, the laity’s voice is purely advisory.
This initiative needs financial support. By financially supporting it, you will be contributing to an historic reformation of a 2,000 year old organization, which has a very mixed history, but which has the potential to play a major role in bringing peace and justice to our troubled world.
By helping renew the church from within, you will be helping the church to re-focus on our true role of helping to bringing God’s love into the world at large.
With renewed integrity the Catholic Church can actively build greater unity to our very divided Christianity.
Young people are conspicuously absent from the pews. It is imperative to keep the church relevant to them.
Young people are inspired by authenticity, and if we can guarantee them a voice, then I am confident they will bring their idealism and energy to the church and embrace its ministry for the common good.
With a formal ‘House of the Laity’ established in every parish, parishioners will more confidently reach out to their neighbour, and assure new-comers to the church that they too have a voice.
Priests are not ordained to be managers; they are ordained to provide pastoral care and to spread the Good News. The laity, by taking back their shared responsibility for the governance of their parish and diocese, will be liberating the clergy to return to their proper role of spiritually serving their community.
Many priests may find it difficult to let go of their power and responsibilities; this will require kindness and assertiveness on the part of the laity.
I am very keen to offer suggestions, support and encouragement to the laity, in taking the challenging, but vital step, of organizing themselves into a responsible vocal group and taking back the appropriate ownership and control of their governance responsibilities.
I am developing a resource booklet to assist local parishes and diocese to develop their own ‘House of the Laity’, and to assist with international networking.
I am confident that eventually most priests will be grateful for this liberation, and joyfully outgrow the destructive clerical culture, and embrace their true servant role, as Jesus intended.
Financial supporters will be able to tell their grand-children that they were directly involved in the radical transformation that helped save the Catholic Church from imploding.
Funds will be required for the associated costs of setting up and maintaining a website, producing a resource book and promoting the initiative.
The budget for this launch is $10,000 (Australian).
Thanking you in anticipation. Whatever you can give will be wisely used for this historic initiative.
All donors will be acknowledged by name on the website, unless they advise otherwise.
The Catholic Church is in serious crisis. It needs urgent change.
The main problem is that total power and control is in the hands of the priests and bishops; the laity have no official voice. The excessive power of the clergy, not surprisingly, often leads to its misuse and abuse. This phenomenon is called ‘clericalism’.
Pope Francis has expressed deep concern about this clerical culture.
It is the people in the pews that finance the life of the church, but all control and decisions are fully in the hands of the clergy; and there is little or no accountability or transparency.
Many church historians and commentators are calling for the laity, world-wide, to get active, to take responsibility and initiate change.
I am with them 100 per cent, as are a group of disaffected and disenfranchised Catholics, which I founded and support, called ‘Inclusive Catholics’.
The time is past for the laity to be submissive and leave all the power and responsibility in the hands of the clerics.
We must take back some control and become trully co-responsible.
The laity have been voiceless for too long, and risk our beloved church continuing to implode.
Inclusive Catholics is a faith community, in Melbourne, Australia, on the fringe of the Catholic Church; and it has become clear to us that the initial critical step is for the laity to get organized!
I believe, the laity of every parish, in every diocese, everywhere needs to establish their own ‘House of the Laity’.
This House will manage the finances, have official input into matters of faith and morals, and the governance and mission of their parish.
This House of the Laity must be organised in parallel with the structure that the clerics enjoy, so that the two bodies can speak to each other, and fully collaborate on an equal footing, with true co-responsibility.
This is a radical shift for the church, but an essential one, if there is to be real and lasting renewal.
I am committed to promoting, and help implementing, this initiative globally, for we are a global church. I hope and pray (and ask for your prayers), that this concept will spread to parishes everywhere.
I am launching this initiative on the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation; when Martin Luther (a Catholic Augustinian monk), nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, on 31st October, 1517.
I nail this radical new initiative to the hearts and minds of Catholics worldwide.
Without a ‘House of the Laity’, any involvement of the laity in the governance of the church remains simply tokenism. Within the confines of the Church Canon Law, the laity’s voice is purely advisory.
This initiative needs financial support. By financially supporting it, you will be contributing to an historic reformation of a 2,000 year old organization, which has a very mixed history, but which has the potential to play a major role in bringing peace and justice to our troubled world.
By helping renew the church from within, you will be helping the church to re-focus on our true role of helping to bringing God’s love into the world at large.
With renewed integrity the Catholic Church can actively build greater unity to our very divided Christianity.
Young people are conspicuously absent from the pews. It is imperative to keep the church relevant to them.
Young people are inspired by authenticity, and if we can guarantee them a voice, then I am confident they will bring their idealism and energy to the church and embrace its ministry for the common good.
With a formal ‘House of the Laity’ established in every parish, parishioners will more confidently reach out to their neighbour, and assure new-comers to the church that they too have a voice.
Priests are not ordained to be managers; they are ordained to provide pastoral care and to spread the Good News. The laity, by taking back their shared responsibility for the governance of their parish and diocese, will be liberating the clergy to return to their proper role of spiritually serving their community.
Many priests may find it difficult to let go of their power and responsibilities; this will require kindness and assertiveness on the part of the laity.
I am very keen to offer suggestions, support and encouragement to the laity, in taking the challenging, but vital step, of organizing themselves into a responsible vocal group and taking back the appropriate ownership and control of their governance responsibilities.
I am developing a resource booklet to assist local parishes and diocese to develop their own ‘House of the Laity’, and to assist with international networking.
I am confident that eventually most priests will be grateful for this liberation, and joyfully outgrow the destructive clerical culture, and embrace their true servant role, as Jesus intended.
Financial supporters will be able to tell their grand-children that they were directly involved in the radical transformation that helped save the Catholic Church from imploding.
Funds will be required for the associated costs of setting up and maintaining a website, producing a resource book and promoting the initiative.
The budget for this launch is $10,000 (Australian).
Thanking you in anticipation. Whatever you can give will be wisely used for this historic initiative.
All donors will be acknowledged by name on the website, unless they advise otherwise.
Organizer
Greg Reynolds
Organizer
Darling VIC
