The Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops has announced a Symposium “Toward a Fundamental Theology of the Priesthood” for 17 – 19 February 2022.
We Are Church International regards the planned Symposium as a futile attempt to confirm the priesthood as a pedestal reserved for celibate males. A serious Symposium would highlight:
- The end of the superior clerical status compared to the lower lay status
- The end of the exclusion of women
- The end of the exclusion of married persons
- The end of the exclusion of LGBTQ persons
We hope that Pope Francis will persuade Cardinal Marc Ouellet to deliver some of these four highlights.
Colm Holmes
Chair, We Are Church International
E
M +353 86 606 3636
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We Are Church International (WAC) founded in Rome in 1996, is a global coalition of national church reform groups. It is committed to the renewal of the Roman Catholic Church based on the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and the theological spirit developed from it.
Other Statements
Noi Siamo Chiesa Also in English and Spanish
We Are Church - Spain (Redes Christianas)
From Africa - Peter-Mbuchi Methu, Lay freelance Theologian
"The 21st Church will have to be realistic if it is to survive, let alone thrive: unfortunately it refuses to slough off its outdated mantle and dress up in the reality: The exclusively male priesthood is simply an ideology, not a theology founded on revelation. As Sr. Joan Chittister, OSB would say, by only tapping on the resources of maleness as the yardstick of what is Godly, humanity deprives itself of half of humanity's resourcefulness."