Widen the Circle materials delivered to synod organizers

Last week, a petition signed by over 5000 US Catholics was delivered to the Bishops urging them to "widen the circle" and invite a diverse set of experts to testify at the Synod this fall. In addition, we suggested 20 experts who could be invited to the Synod and would better represent the experience of family than last year's choices. The petition was launched earlier this year as part of the Our Catholic Family campaign, supported by CTA and other progressive Catholic organizations. It was delivered in Rome last week by Deb of FutureChurch.

"I met with Msgr. John Abruzzese at the Synod of Bishops office in Rome for about 40 minutes. We had a very good discussion about our effort. Msgr. Abruzzese looked at all the materials carefully and asked specific questions about our recommended invitees. That gave me a chance to highlight the expertise, experience, faith and wisdom of the candidates and affirm the immense value they would bring to synod discussions," she reported ."The meeting was productive and it was clear that while the Monsignor would not agree with the entire reform agenda represented by Our Catholic Family, he did express his appreciation for our commitment to this synod and to the Church."

In addition to Deb's meeting in Rome, a printed copy of the packet was sent to 10 other US Bishops who will take part in the Synod, an electronic version was emailed to 250 other US Bishops archbishops, cardinals, and monsignors. Pope Francis directed the Bishops to listen to the laity in preparation for the Synod, if they won't ask for our input, we'll send it to them! You can read the whole packet, including the biographies of the suggested experts, here.