Catholic groups seek meeting with pope over reforms – The Irish Times

Leaders of 52 organizations from Europe, the United States and Asia working for the reform of the Catholic Church have sent a letter to Pope Francis requesting a meeting.

Included are the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) in Ireland and the Irish lay movement We Are Church.

In the letter, they urge the pope to take immediate action to appoint more women to church leadership positions and to end the practice of barring people from communion.

“We share with people around the world the great joy of your election to the Chair of Peter and the abundant hope generated by your vision for our church,” the letter reads.

“Among the many issues you have addressed this first year in your new ministry, two have come up early and often in your remarks: the status of women in the church and the pastoral care of the people of God.”

Speaking “as leaders of a movement of steadfast Catholics, committed to the best of and for our church”, they add: “We believe it is vital that there is increased leadership of women in roles where they would be among the most influential policy makers in our church, and in offices where the only sacramental qualification for service is baptism.”

Women
They urge Pope Francis to appoint “talented and committed women…to head the main offices of the curia, including the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, the Pontifical Council for the Laity, the Pontifical Council for the Family, etc. “.

They “hope to experience the end of the use of Communion as a reward for doctrinal orthodoxy”. Communion “is a sacrament of love and peace, of mercy and forgiveness offered by Jesus to all on the eve of his death. It does not imply compliance with church teachings in all cases and it does not endorse all aspects of the moral choice made by the recipient.

“However, he offers love and healing to Catholics who experience alienation and rejection.”