PRESS RELEASE: Catholics Call on Bishops to Initiate "Year of Dialogue"
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
10 November 2014
Contact Details Below
U.S. Catholics call on U.S. Bishops to initiate a Year of Dialogue in the lead up to the Synod on the Family to be held October 2015
Seventeen U.S. Catholic organizations are calling on the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops to initiate a Year of Dialogue in the months leading up to the Synod on the Family to be held October 2015. They are urging them to establish processes at the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops meeting for General Assembly in Baltimore, Maryland November 10-13, 2014 through which Catholics in every diocese can bring forward their dreams, concerns, and key messages for the Synod.
Sheila Peiffer, Coordinator of Catholics Organizations for Renewal, a leadership forum of US organizations inspired by Vatican II, said, “We believe every diocese should establish processes for listening to the experience, faith and wisdom of all Catholics and their families on the important issues that will be discussed at the Ordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family in October 2015.”
“It is vitally important for all members of our Church to have the opportunity to enter into prayerful and respectful dialogue with one another and our bishops, so that the Synod’s work is responsive to the needs of God’s people,” said Marianne Duddy-Burke, Executive Director of DignityUSA, an organization of LGBT Catholics and supporters.
“Over the next year, all Catholics including those who are divorced and remarried, in same sex relationships, and who believe the Church’s teaching on contraception is out of step with the needs of Catholic families should have a voice. They should have the opportunity to engage our bishops in frank, honest and respectful discussions about the realities of family life, marriage and human sexuality, ” noted Deborah Rose-Milavec, Executive Director of FutureChurch. “In every diocese, we need surveys, listening sessions and other creative ways to ensure the voices of all Catholics and their families are heard by their bishops and by those who will attend and make decisions about the Church’s pastoral practices at the 2015 Synod on the Family.”
Read the statement, which can be found at MyCatholicFamily.org.
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Sheila Peiffer, American Catholic Council
518.334.6076 Sheilapeiffer.acc@gmail.com
Marianne Duddy-Burke, DignityUSA
617.669.7810 execdir@dignityusa.org
Deborah Rose-Milavec, FutureChurch
513.673.1401 debrose@futurechurch.org
Organizational sponsors from Catholic Organizations for Renewal (COR) include American Catholic Council, Call To Action, CORPUS, DignityUSA, Ecumenical Catholic Communion, Federation of Christian Ministries/Roman Catholic Faith Community Council, FutureChurch, New Ways Ministry, RAPPORT, Southeastern Pennsylvania Women's Ordination Conference, Voice of the Faithful, and Women's Ordination Conference. Other supporting organizations include A Critical Mass, Chicago Women-Church, Loretto Women’s Network and Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual (WATER).
