Statement by the We
Are Church Movement.
With the first
meeting of the eight Cardinals at the beginning of October 2013 Pope Francis
will start the reform of the curia. It is of the utmost importance to the
future of the Roman Catholic Church. It should not take place behind closed
doors, but transparently and as an open dialogue with the local churches.
On the 14th of April,
2013 Pope Francis announced a reform of the curia. He constituted a worldwide
commission of eight cardinals. The Pope expects the first suggestions of this
commission to be handed in by the beginning of October. So far no pontifical
task has been announced for this body. So far none of the Cardinals involved
has made any comment. But the reform of the curia as a first step to a
structural reform of the whole Roman Catholic Church is so important that the
basics should be discussed in public.
That is why the
INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT WE ARE CHURCH asks the following questions now, before
the first meeting of the commission at the beginning of October 2013:
1. What are the objectives
of the intended reform, what concepts are behind it and what are the Cardinals’
concrete proposals?
2. Did the cardinals
consult their national and continental bishops’ conferences and lay
organisations beforehand?
3. What action is
there going to be in the face of the worldwide scandals of abuse and cover-ups?
Nominating an
international advisory committee is an important step to a more cooperative and
participatory Church leadership, given the many serious crises (Vatileaks, Bank
of the Vatican, Society of St Pius X, lack of cooperation and so on) and wrong
decisions made by the church leaders. But further steps have to be taken. The
Roman Curia has hardened to an absolute power over the past centuries!
It is important that
the much needed reform not only increases the efficacy of the curia but helps
the spirit of transparency; so that collegial plurality and democratic
structures in the institutional Church have a chance to develop (e.g.
‘separation of powers’: independence of legislature, executive and judiciary).
Women, who constitute more than half of the church members, are hardly ever
represented or involved in decision making. New structures of communication and
leadership have to be developed. They should correspond with the demands of the
Gospel and meet the requirements of a worldwide net of communities of the
faithful in different cultural settings. It has to be asked how a lobby of
homosexuals could have been established in the Vatican, as Pope Francis said,
and what action is to be taken to prevent such future lobbying. The question of
why any form of lobbying exists in the Vatican should be answered.
Pope Francis himself
talked about „new wine in old wineskins“ and referred to the tradition of the
Church that allows renewal of theology and structure by means of dialogue with
people from different cultures (c.f. the
Pope’s sermon on the 6th of July, 2013). That is why he is expected to make
fundamental decisions during his papacy. These will entail the abandonment of
obsolete principles and doctrines in order to secure the future well being of
the Catholic Church. A commission of
experts in church history, systemic theology and exegesis has to be convened as
soon as possible to addresses concerns over dogmatic questions.
With all due respect
for tradition and continuity, a fundamentally new culture and structure must be
developed, and the process should be characterized by dialogue, communion,
reform and openness – according to the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), which
still provides valid and precious guide lines. For the Vatican this means, more
communication instead of control, more spirituality and open-mindedness instead
of sanctions.
The We Are Church
movement believes that key decisions must be about:
1. Decentralization
of decision-making in the church and the giving of more rights and
responsibility to the Church at local levels
2. Representation in
Rome of all churches in the world
3. Emancipation of
women at all levels
4.Collegial responsibility
and the abandonment of absolutist and monarchical structures
5. The implementation
of human rights in the Church
6. A code of
behaviour, including accountability of church leaders to the people of God.
12 August
2013
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