We Are Church International esprime solidarietà alle vittime degli abusi sessuali del clero in Cile, a Somos Iglesia del Chile e all'Organizzazione dei Laici di Osorno per il loro coraggioso e tenace impegno per ottenere giustizia per coloro che hanno subito anni di abusi e contro la copertura di questi delitti da parte dei “funzionari” della chiesa. Il loro impegno nei confronti della verità ha portato a un nuovo consapevolezza della situazione in Vaticano e nella stessa Chiesa cilena.
We Are Church International ritiene che sia giusto e appropriato per gli oltre 30 vescovi del Cile avere dato le loro dimissioni a papa Francesco, alla luce dell'insabbiamento sistematico degli abusi e alla denigrazione che è stata fatta di molte vittime. Invitiamo a una verifica della situazione personale di ogni vescovo per capire se egli possa essere confermato nella guida della diocesi.
We Are Church International plaude a Papa Francesco per aver riconosciuto di aver commesso un errore nella sua valutazione iniziale dell'impatto degli abusi sulle vittime, i sopravvissuti, le loro famiglie e la chiesa in Cile. Siamo d'accordo che la nomina dell'arcivescovo Scicluna per indagare sulle accuse mosse contro numerosi vescovi per le accuse di abuso e di copertura degli abusi è stato un passo fondamentale per dimostrare considerazione per coloro che sono stati perseguitati per così tanto tempo. Attendiamo la pubblicazione del rapporto completo sull'indagine di Scicluna e speriamo che il Papa accetterà gran parte delle dimissioni che sono state offerte. Ci aspettiamo che vescovi e cardinali di altre nazioni che sono stati accusati di mancati interventi di tutela del Popolo di Dio saranno pure oggetto di indagini mirate.
L'abuso sessuale di bambini e di adulti e la copertura di questo abuso è un problema per la chiesa non solo in Cile, ma in tutto il mondo. We Are Church International chiede giustizia per tutti coloro che hanno sofferto ed esortano il Vaticano a imparare da quanto accaduto in Cile e ad essere coerente negli interventi in tutta la Chiesa. Riteniamo che questi scandali indichino la necessità di strutture che impongano trasparenza e responsabilità da parte dei capi delle chiese. Il Popolo di Dio deve avere voce nel determinare chi guida le singole diocesi e nel valutare l'efficacia della loro leadership. Una tale linea d’azione serve a realizzare quella Chiesa a "piramide rovesciata" di cui Papa Francesco ha parlato più volte, una chiesa dove i capi sono veramente servitori del popolo di Dio.
Contatto: Marianne Duddy-Burke, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +1 617-669-7810
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We Are Church International (WAC-I), fondata a Roma nel 1996, è un movimento mondiale costituito da gruppi nazionali impegnati nel rinnovamento della Chiesa cattolica nella linea del Concilio Vaticano II (1962-1965).
We Are Church International expresses solidarity with the survivors of clerical sexual abuse in Chile, Somos Iglesia Chile, and the Osorno Lay Organization for their courageous and tenacious advocacy to achieve justice for those who suffered years of abuse and cover up by church officials. Their commitment to the truth has resulted in a new level of accountability from the Vatican and from Chilean church leaders.
We Are Church International believes that it was right and appropriate for the more than 30 bishops from Chile to tender their resignations to Pope Francis, in light of the systemic cover-up of abuse and vilification of many survivors. We urge a thorough review of each bishop’s history and careful consideration of whether he deserves the privilege of continuing as a diocesan leader.
We Are Church International applauds Pope Francis for acknowledging that he made an error in his initial assessment of the impact of clerical abuse on the victims, survivors, their families, and the church in Chile. We agree that the appointment of Archbishop Scicluna to investigate the accusations brought against numerous bishops for widespread failures to act on accusations of abuse was a critical step in demonstrating respect for those victimized for so long. We await the publication of the full report on the investigation, and hope that the Pope will accept the majority of the resignations that have been offered. We expect that bishops and cardinals from other nations who have been charged with failure to act to protect the people of the church will also be subject to purposeful investigation.
Sexual abuse of children and adults and the cover up of this abuse is a problem for the church not just in Chile but across the globe. We Are Church International calls for justice for all who have suffered and urges the Vatican to learn from what occurred in Chile, and to apply these lessons to the entire Church. We believe that these scandals point to the need for structures that enforce transparency and accountability on the part of church leaders. The people of the church must have a voice in determining who leads individual dioceses, and in assessing the effectiveness of their leadership. These are important factors in establishing the “inverted pyramid” church of which Pope Francis has spoken, a church where the leaders are truly servants of the people of God.
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We Are Church International (WAC-I) 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.
Contact: Marianne Duddy-Burke, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +1 617-669-7810
Catholic Women Speak and Voices of Faith have collaborated to write an open letter to Pope Francis appealing for greater participation of and dialogue with women in the worldwide Church. They have asked for our support of this effort to open a meaningful dialogue with women in the church so that women can have a more "decisive" presence in the universal Church. Please read the letter and, if you agree, you are invited to sign the letter and, in turn, circulate it to your networks.
As you will see, the letter is supportive of Pope Francis and seeks to open up a dialogue. The creators of this website believe it is important to express our concerns about the language used to describe women, and this letter strives to do so gently - not to provoke a confrontation
It is worth reflecting on Bishop Michael Curry's address at the royal wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on 19 May 2018. Bishop Michael is the first black presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church in the USA.
"And now in the name of our loving, liberating and life-giving God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
From the Song of Solomon, in the Bible: Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, passion fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a raging flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it.
The late Dr Martin Luther King Jr once said, and I quote: 'We must discover the power of love, the redemptive power of love. And when we do that, we will make of this old world a new world, for love is the only way.'
There's power in love. Don't underestimate it. Don't even over-sentimentalise it. There's power, power in love.
If you don't believe me, think about a time when you first fell in love. The whole world seemed to centre around you and your beloved. Oh there's power, power in love. Not just in its romantic forms, but any form, any shape of love. There's a certain sense in which when you are loved, and you know it, when someone cares for you, and you know it, when you love and you show it - it actually feels right. There is something right about it. And there's a reason for it. The reason has to do with the source. We were made by a power of love, and our lives were meant - and are meant - to be lived in that love. That's why we are here. Ultimately, the source of love is God himself: the source of all of our lives. There's an old medieval poem that says: 'Where true love is found, God himself is there'. The New Testament says it this way: 'Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God, and those who love are born of God and know God. Those who do not love do not know God.' Why? 'For God is love.'
There's power in love.
There's power in love to help and heal when nothing else can.
There's power in love to lift up and liberate when nothing else will.
There's power in love to show us the way to live.
Set me as a seal on your heart... a seal on your arm, for love is as strong as death.
But love is not only about a young couple. Now the power of love is demonstrated by the fact that we're all here. Two young people fell in love, and we all showed up. But it's not just for and about a young couple, who we rejoice with. It's more than that.
Jesus of Nazareth on one occasion was asked by a lawyer to sum up the essence of the teachings of Moses, and he went back and he reached back into the Hebrew scriptures, to Deuteronomy and Leviticus, and Jesus said: 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbour as yourself.'
And then in Matthew's version, he added, he said: 'On these two, love of God and love of neighbour, hang all the law, all the prophets, everything that Moses wrote, everything in the holy prophets, everything in the scriptures, everything that God has been trying to tell the world... love God, love your neighbours, and while you're at it, love yourself.' Someone once said that Jesus began the most revolutionary movement in human history.
A movement grounded in the unconditional love of God for the world - and a movement mandating people to live that love, and in so doing to change not only their lives but the very life of the world itself. I'm talking about power. Real power. Power to change the world.
If you don't believe me, well, there were some old slaves in America's Antebellum South who explained the dynamic power of love and why it has the power to transform. They explained it this way. They sang a spiritual, even in the midst of their captivity. It's one that says 'There is a balm in Gilead...' a healing balm, something that can make things right. 'There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole, there is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul.' And one of the stanzas actually explains why. They said: 'If you cannot preach like Peter, and you cannot pray like Paul, you just tell the love of Jesus, how he died to save us all.' Oh, that's the balm in Gilead! This way of love, it is the way of life. They got it. He died to save us all.
He didn't die for anything he could get out of it. Jesus did not get an honorary doctorate for dying. He didn't... he wasn't getting anything out of it. He gave up his life, he sacrificed his life, for the good of others, for the good of the other, for the wellbeing of the world... for us. That's what love is. Love is not selfish and self-centred. Love can be sacrificial, and in so doing, becomes redemptive. And that way of unselfish, sacrificial, redemptive love changes lives, and it can change this world. If you don't believe me, just stop and imagine.
Think and imagine a world where love is the way.
Imagine our homes and families where love is the way.
Imagine neighbourhoods and communities where love is the way.
Imagine governments and nations where love is the way.
Imagine business and commerce where this love is the way.
Imagine this tired old world where love is the way.
When love is the way - unselfish, sacrificial, redemptive.
When love is the way, then no child will go to bed hungry in this world ever again.
When love is the way, we will let justice roll down like a mighty stream and righteousness like an ever-flowing brook.
When love is the way, poverty will become history. When love is the way, the earth will be a sanctuary.
When love is the way, we will lay down our swords and shields, down by the riverside, to study war no more.
When love is the way, there's plenty good room - plenty good room - for all of God's children.
Because when love is the way, we actually treat each other, well... like we are actually family.
When love is the way, we know that God is the source of us all, and we are brothers and sisters, children of God.
My brothers and sisters, that's a new heaven, a new earth, a new world, a new human family.
And let me tell you something, old Solomon was right in the Old Testament: that's fire. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin - and with this I will sit down, we gotta get you all married - French Jesuit Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was arguably one of the great minds, great spirits of the 20th century. Jesuit, Roman Catholic priest, scientist, a scholar, a mystic. In some of his writings, he said, from his scientific background as well as his theological one, in some of his writings he said - as others have - that the discovery, or invention, or harnessing of fire was one of the great scientific and technological discoveries in all of human history.
Fire to a great extent made human civilisation possible.
Fire made it possible to cook food and to provide sanitary ways of eating which reduced the spread of disease in its time.
Fire made it possible to heat warm environments and thereby made human migration around the world a possibility, even into colder climates.
Fire made it possible - there was no Bronze Age without fire, no Iron Age without fire, no Industrial Revolution without fire.
The advances of fire and technology are greatly dependent on the human ability and capacity to take fire and use it for human good. Anybody get here in a car today? An automobile? Nod your heads if you did - I know there were some carriages. But those of us who came in cars, fire - the controlled, harnessed fire - made that possible. I know that the Bible says, and I believe it, that Jesus walked on the water. But I have to tell you, I did not walk across the Atlantic Ocean to get here. Controlled fire in that plane got me here.
Fire makes it possible for us to text and tweet and email and Instagram and Facebook and socially be dysfunctional with each other.
Fire makes all of that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one of the greatest discoveries in all of human history. And he then went on to say that if humanity ever harnesses the energy of fire again, if humanity ever captures the energy of love - it will be the second time in history that we have discovered fire.
Dr King was right: we must discover love - the redemptive power of love. And when we do that, we will make of this old world, a new world.
My brothers, my sisters, God love you, God bless you, and may God hold us all in those almighty hands of love."
I responsabili del movimento internazionale We Are Church oggi hanno espresso serie preoccupazioni riguardo all'espansione delle competenze del Dicastero vaticano “per i laici, la famiglia e la vita” per quanto riguarda il ruolo delle donne. L'ampliamento dei compiti del Dicastero, presieduto dal cardinale Kevin Farrell, è il risultato dei nuovi statuti firmati da Papa Francesco che sono entrati in vigore il 13 maggio 2018.
Colm Holmes di Dublino, Irlanda, presidente di We Are Church International, ha dichiarato: "È certamente di fondamentale importanza che il Vaticano rifletta e agisca sull'oppressione delle donne nella nostra Chiesa e nella maggior parte delle culture. Tuttavia, affidare questa responsabilità allo stesso uomo che recentemente ha vietato a due donne che si occupano di uguaglianza di parlare in Vaticano solleva dubbi sul fatto che progressi reali siano poi possibili. Inoltre, la considerazione dei ruoli delle donne nel tradizionale linguaggio vaticano del "rapporto tra uomini e donne nelle loro rispettive specificità, reciprocità, complementarietà e pari dignità" e del "genio femminile" indica che ci troviamo nelle stesse solite categorie che considerano le donne in una categoria inferiore. "
Holmes ha proseguito: "We Are Church International invita Papa Francesco a istituire un “Dicastero per l'uguaglianza delle donne”. Come la ex-presidente irlandese Mary McAleese ha sottolineato nel suo importante discorso nella Giornata internazionale della donna all'inizio di quest'anno, la Chiesa cattolica deve smettere di diffondere il virus della misoginia e della disuguaglianza in tutto il mondo. Uno specifico dicastero con la chiara missione di smantellare le strutture di oppressione risultanti dagli insegnamenti e dalle pratiche della Chiesa è un primo passo necessario. Crediamo che questo Dicastero dovrebbe essere guidato da una équipe di donne e di uomini, che possano lavorare in modo stretto tra di loro, organizzando un nuovo modo di operare con un ruolo di guida in Vaticano su questa questione centrale nella vita della Chiesa. La loro prima missione dovrebbe essere quella di viaggiare in tutto il mondo, ascoltando le donne sulle loro vite, sulla loro fede e sul loro rapporto con la Chiesa apertamente e con grande sincerità. Quello che così imparerebbero dovrebbe informare l’azione del Dicastero che sarebbe così maggiormente guidato dallo Spirito”.
We Are Church International sostiene da tempo la necessità dell'uguaglianza delle donne nella Chiesa, tra cui l'apertura di esse ai ministeri e ad ogni ruolo decisionale. Il movimento We Are Church appoggia tutti gli sforzi che aiutino a far progredire questo obiettivo e ritiene che la linea ora seguita in Vaticano sia inefficace e problematica.
Il movimento We Are Church International (WACI), fondato a Roma nel 1996, è una coalizione mondiale di gruppi nazionali che si impegnano per la riforma della Chiesa cattolica nella linea del Concilio Vaticano II (1962-1965) e della sua ispirazione. Contatto: Marianne Duddy-Burke, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +1 617 669 7810
We Are Church International esprime solidarietà alle vittime degli abusi sessuali del clero in Cile, a Somos Iglesia del Chile e all'Organizzazione dei Laici di Osorno per il loro coraggioso e tenace impegno per ottenere giustizia per coloro che hanno subito anni di abusi e contro la copertura di questi delitti da parte dei “funzionari” della chiesa. Il loro impegno nei confronti della verità ha portato a un nuovo consapevolezza della situazione in Vaticano e nella stessa Chiesa cilena.
