CVR Statement and Questions for the Pope

CVR Statement

Welcome to this our first press conference my name is Bernard Wynne and for today I am acting as the chair of this meeting, on another day it might be any of the others on our panel.

I would like first to just say a word about who CV4R are and what we stand for and then I will then introduce our panel after which we will get down to the business of why we invited you – the questions we would like to ask Pope Benedict.

Catholic Voices for Reform

We are a new grouping of concerned Catholics who believe that it is essential that the Church undergoes a process of reform. We bring together representatives of many of the Catholic Reform Groups in Britain the UK.

We use the word ‘reform’ in our title to differentiate ourselves from the recently formed Catholic Voices. Catholic Voices for Reform seeks to represent the voice of committed Catholics, many of whom believe that the Church has reached a stage where an open discussion, about how the Church can best fulfil its sacred mission in the modern world is the only way forward.

Our voices are those of ordinary members of the Church, not well known theologians, or priests but people deeply concerned at the present state of the Church.

We come from varied backgrounds and can offer a wide experience of the world and are in touch with many others who share our views. Many of us have spent years labouring in parishes, supporting charities and trying our best to represent the best of Christianity in the Catholic tradition to the world.

Equally many of us, women and men, have formed the backbone of the call for change in the Church over many years. Most of all we represent the loyal opposition who have remained faithful to the Church while calling for reform.

We will be sending a letter with the questions to Archbishops House, Westminster and to the home of the Papal Nuncio trusting that Archbishop Nichols and our Papal Nuncio will pass our letter and the questions we would like to ask to his Holiness Pope Benedict IXVI.

Contact

Bernard Wynne Tel. 020 8850 6458 email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Valerie Stroud Tel. 07904 332201 email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Simon Bryden-Brook Tel: 020 7235 2841 email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Pat Brown Tel: 0795 0048628 email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Questions Catholics would like to ask Pope Benedict

1. In the present over-centralised Church structure how can the Church revive Collegiality of Bishops and the importance of the local Church?

1. Why is Rome planning to impose an outmoded liturgy on Britain? And why are the proposed reforms not using inclusive and grammatically correct English?

1. The Church has an honourable history of extolling the relief of poverty and inequality through ‘social teaching’.  However, it’s teaching in pursuit of greater equality requires considerable development, how can the Church humanise its understanding of God’s gift of ‘sexual orientation’?

1. Many people believe that the Church will soon allow a married priesthood, as this is purely a church law, why not avoid further hurt and change the rule on celibacy now?

1. The question of women’s ordination to the diaconate and priesthood is hampered by the outmoded anthropology and theology of the Magisterium. How can the experience of the laity and the scholarship of female and male theologians assist the Church to understand that the non – ordination of women is purely ‘cultural and historical’ and has no anthropological or theological roots?

1. The abuse crisis has highlighted to the world that the Institutional Church is too monarchical, lacks transparency and accountability.  How can the Church draw on the skills and abilities of the laity in moving towards a healthy, accountable and professional Church government at central and local level?

Many other questions are actively under discussion and the above are only a selection of those which people would like to discuss with Pope Benedict during his visit to the UK.

Bernard Wynne

8 September 2010     CVR Statement