CTA, European Network enter reform
alliance
International solidarity of progressive
Catholic church reform groups took a quantum leap forward Jan. 3-7 in London,
England. At the sixth annual joint conference of the European Network and Church
on the Move (Kirche im Aufbruch), 50 delegates from 20 reform organizations in
11 countries approved a constitution that gives formal structure to their
coalition efforts.
North American movements like CTA are already linking
with the European Network. CTA co-directors Sheila and Dan Daley participated in
the London parley, as did Mary Lou Hartman and Patrick Connor, SVD of the New
Jersey-based ARCC -- Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church. Both
CTA and ARCC have since become EN affiliates and will urge 30 other U.S. and
Canadian groups in COR -- Catholic Organizations for Renewal -- to follow suit.
COR meets March 8-10 in Baltimore, MD.
The London meeting was charged
with excitement over 1995 "We Are the Church" petitions that garnered 500,000
signatures in Austria and 1.8 million in Germany in a matter of weeks. On
Saturday, Jan. 6 the London conferees demonstrated in front of Westminster
Cathedral, with banners proclaiming the main points of the Austrian and German
referendums: a Church of brothers and sisters, equal rights for women, including
ordination, and optional celibacy for clergy. Similar petition drives are under
way in Belgium, France and Italy.
CTA and ARCC delegates pledged support
for the goals of the European petitions. The European Network in turn endorsed
efforts by the U.S. groups to challenge the recent Cardinal Ratzinger claim of
infallibility for the pope's ban on women's ordination. Patrick Kalilombe, a
bishop from Malawi now residing in England, told the gathering the spirit of God
was behind its work, and insisted "many of my brother bishops, deep down in
their hearts, appreciate and wish you well."
Kalilombe was barred from
his own land by the Malawian government in 1976 after a speech about small faith
communities (SFCs). The promotion of SFCs was a common thread among CTA and most
other groups at the London meeting, including Catholics for a Changing Church
(United Kingdom), Eighth of May Movement (Holland), Comunitá Cristiane di Base
(Italy), Kirche von Unten (Germany), Wir sind Kirche (Austria), and Droits et
Libertés dans Les Églises (France).
Language differences slowed things
down at the London meeting, with five translators handling English, French,
Dutch, German and Italian. "But the sense of common purpose came through more
than any differences," said Sheila Daley. "It's amazing how much we are all
alike in our vision of church and our hope for reform."
ChurchWatch is one of three quarterly publications from Call To Action. For
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