Postcards for the Pope
As you may remember, the Postcards for the Pope campaign was launched on Pentecost of this year. Call To Action invited everyone to write a postcard for Pope Francis, letting him know about their family and showing the diversity of ways love is made manifest.It is important to remember that the strength of our movement is our national voice. The postcards demonstrate that people from across the nation are united for equality, inclusion, and justice. The Call To Action’s family delegation will take the postcards to Rome and deliver them to Pope Francis in October.
I took the time to read through the postcards that have already been sent to the Call To Action office. Some offer general encouragement and prayers for a more inclusive church. “We pray for your strength, love, and guidance that one day, your efforts will shine through our entire Catholic family where ALL will be respected and loved.” Some postcards speak to specific issues like the importance of welcoming the LBGT community. One woman writes, “I left the Church for four years and have now returned. Letha, my wife, has expressed interest in becoming Catholic. I would love to tell her that we are both welcome.” Other postcards address the need for women to be priests and have greater leadership in the Church. “How long must women wait for the Church to treat them like Jesus treated women?”
Several postcards encourage Pope Francis to change the Church’s teaching on birth control and allow its use. Still others call for the welcoming of individuals who have been divorced and separated. “We have a blended family, and my husband and I have found happiness together after painful divorces. Although we are not perfect Catholics, the Church is a source of beauty, inspiration, and tradition for us. We are a proud Catholic family.”Regardless of the content, all the postcards are written from the heart. Some are laced with pain, “My own sister believes me to be a sinner and will not communicate with me because I have been with my life partner for 38 years, who is also a woman. My sister says she has the Church’s backing for this hurtful behavior, and I am sad.” Even after experiencing hardship and difficulty, postcards offer blessing, prayer, and gratitude. “Thank you for all you do to promote peace and justice in the world. May God bless you in every way.”
We will continue to collect Postcards for the Pope until the 2015 Synod of the Family in October, so send your postcard to the Call To Action office. It is easy to participate:
Obtain postcards from your area, which highlights the local character.
Using the postcards, have your family, community, loves ones, etc. write notes to Pope Francis about what it means for them to be a Catholic family.
Mail the postcards to our Chicago office: Call To Action 2135 W. Roscoe St. #1N Chicago, IL 60618
