DETROIT (Reuters) – Members of a liberal group of U.S. Roman Catholics on Sunday called on Church leaders to open talks with their members on controversies ranging from the ordination of women to allowing priests to marry.Read the rest here.
Members of the American Catholic Council, meeting in Detroit, said they had grown concerned the church's hierarchy was not listening to its members on issues such as the role of women, married clergy and the treatment of homosexuals.
The meeting comes as the Roman Catholic Church in the United States is struggling with a sexual abuse crisis, loss of membership and a dwindling number of priests.
"When in God's name are the conversations going to begin?" asked Joan Chittister, a Benedictine nun who addressed the meeting of about 2,000 people -- part of a liberal wing that represents a minority in the 1.2 billion-member Church.
She likened the structure, with bishops and archbishops answering to the pope in Rome, to "a medieval system that has now been abandoned by humanity everywhere, except by us."
See also this gem from the National Catholic Fishwrap on Hans Kung's call for a revolt against the tyranny of Rome. Yes, he is still alive (barely) and no I am not kidding.
Over the weekend Fr. Z put up several amusing (and depressing) blog posts about these tie-dye dinosaurs.
Oh, boo hoo. Poor liberals. (eye rolling)
ReplyDeleteHey, I wear tie-dye, and you won't get more theologically hide-bound than I am. :) Long live the Orthodox hippies. Seriously though, I'm having an argument on FB right now over this ridiculous issue. Why can't people just be honest and leave churches they do not believe in and will not obey?
ReplyDeleteTeena, as an adult convert to the Roman church, I've had this same question. I have, however, started to notice that those who were raised in the Roman Catholic Church have trouble identifying any other way due to the rich culture it involves. I can accept that the average layman would have issues, but intelligent women and men have no excuse for intellectual dishonesty.
ReplyDeleteIt always amazes me that people think because the entire hierarchy of the Church doesn't pull together to address their concerns, this means that somehow that means their concerns have never been addressed.
ReplyDeleteThe institution is 2,000 years old. Every issue they raise has been raised in every generation of Christians since the Church's inception. Google search is more informed than these people. It only takes the smallest effort at self-education to answer most of the questions they ask.
Of course, I'm pretty sure they know this, and what they really expect aren't answers to their questions, they expect the answers to be changed.