For the first time, Pope Francis has given a woman the right to vote at a Synod. Sr. Nathalie Becquart has been appointed undersecretary at the Vatican’s office of the Synod of Bishops.  The gesture toward the desired equal rights for women is rather half-hearted. Sr. Nathalie in fact shares the job of undersecretary with Fr. Luis Marín de San Martin who was immediately appointed bishop. 

Despite having spoken out time and again against clericalism, Pope Francis in his actions continues to support the clerical hierarchy which marginalizes lay people and women. 

Colm Holmes
Chair, We Are Church International
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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.

(Picture by Peter Potrowl - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,

We welcome the recent announcement by Pope Francis that women will now officially be allowed to act as Acolytes and Lectors. 

For more than 50 years women have been carrying out these roles.  Now rather belatedly Pope Francis makes it official. Real change comes from the People of God at the grassroots and not from the curia in the Vatican. 

Women remain officially excluded from:

• Reading the gospel at mass
• Preaching at mass
• Presiding at the Eucharist
• All ordained ministries
• Decision making at all levels

For centuries women have been treated as inferior to men by the patriarchal leaders in the Catholic Church. The full equality of women in the Catholic Church is still officially being denied, but the People of God know it is a reality in our church all around the world.

Sadly, the announcement by Pope Francis did not include any apology to women for having officially been denied these roles for decades. 

Colm Holmes
Chair, We Are Church International
E  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
M  +353 86 606 3636
W  www.we-are-church.org

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.

Press Release

[ Italian ] 

10 January 2021

The Catholic Church should be an example to the world in promoting justice, equality and peace – but it is not.

Under President Trump in 4 years we have seen the U.S.A. switch from being a leader of the democratic free world with respect for all peoples to being inward looking and with respect for only some of its own people. Some 50% of Catholics (including Cardinal Dolan of New York) supported President Trump, in part because of his Pro Life and Anti LGBTQ agenda, ahead of upholding the lives and dignity of the poor and vulnerable. 

As a people of faith, we reaffirm our commitment to Gospel values of non-violence and love of neighbour and we pray that the violence that unfolded on the Feast of the Epiphany will yield a new epiphany – where the Catholic community will work with ever more diligence to become the community of justice-makers that our baptisms call us to.

The Catholic Church is in urgent need of reform to set an example for justice, equality and peace in the world. The current hierarchical structures are more appropriate to an army than a Christian organisation. The monarchical clerical structure must change to include lay women and men in decision making at all levels. Otherwise Catholic teaching on important global issues like the environment and social justice will not be accepted.  

Colm Holmes
Chair, We Are Church International
E This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
M +353 86 606 3636
W www.we-are-church.org

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

Press Release from Catholic Organisations for Renewal USA

Press Release

18 November 2020.

After the Spotlight revelations in 2002 we now have the 400+ page McCarrick Report. It took 2 years to complete. Its 30 Chapters detail who-knew-what-when as Former Cardinal McCarrick was promoted again and again despite many reports of his sexual activities with seminarians.

It is clear to the world that clerical sex abuse is a systemic problem in the Roman Catholic Church, with the USA, Australia, Germany, Chile and Ireland just a few of the better known examples.

This report and the Spotlight revelations indirectly are recommendations. They call for

• More reports, for example into the founder of the Legionaries of Christ and the appointment of Bishop Barros in Chile
• A radical review of the process for appointing bishops
• The need to involve lay people in decision making

If you don’t learn from your mistakes you are bound to repeat them.

The signs are ominous: The McCarrick Report was issued without a Press Conference, without any Question & Answer session and without making a single recommendation. The German bishops wanted to bring some lay people on their visit to the Vatican and were told very clearly that lay people had no business arriving with their bishops!

Colm Holmes
Chair, We Are Church International
E This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
M +353 86 606 3636
W www.we-are-church.org

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

Eternal rest grant  unto him.  May perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul, through the mercy of God, rest in peace and rise in glory. 

À Dieu