Welcome To CfM

  WHO ARE CATHOLICS FOR MINISTRY AND WHAT ARE OUR AIMS? 

We are a group of Catholics who are profoundly concerned about the future of the church in Australia and about the challenge of handing on the faith to coming generations. We believe that part of the essence of being a Catholic lies in the ability to participate in the celebration of the Mass and the Sacraments, and we are deeply concerned because ALREADY many parishes in Australia - especially in rural Australia - are deprived of the liturgy and the kind of worshiping community which is basic to being a Catholic. They are replaced by scripture reading and a communion service.

CfM is committed to expressing the concern of Catholics about this failure to provide the Eucharist and Sacraments to both the Australian bishops and to the pope and the Vatican. Last year we ran a PETITION TO THE BISHOPS OF AUSTRALIA in about 120 parishes and on the net which eventually was signed by almost 17,000 Mass-going Catholics, including 167 priests. It focused on:

* the increasingly acute shortage of suitable priests to maintain our Mass-centred, Eucharistic spirituality and the celebration of the other sacraments

* the increasing drift of young people from the Church because of the difficulties we face in our ministry to them

* the lack of full leadership roles for women

Specifically we asked the bishops to....

1. Acknowledge that there is a major crisis in ministry within the Australian Catholic Church.

2. Acknowledge that there is no doctrinal or theological barrier to the ordination of married men. The Australian Church has already ordained married former Anglican priests.

3. Take practical steps toward ordaining suitably qualified married men.

4. Encourage a wide-ranging discussion of the role of women in ministry and in the authority structures of the Church, including the question of women''s ordination.

5. Establish appropriate scriptural, theological and pastoral training programs to prepare suitable women and men for ministry.

6. Invite priests who have left the ministry to return to active priesthood, subject to negotiation with the local bishop.

The Petition ran in parishes, schools and other ministries from July to October 2007 and, after discussions with Archbishop Philip Wilson of Adelaide, President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, it was presented at the bi-annual conference of the bishops in Sydney in late-November 2007. According to reports there was a lengthy discussion of the Petition and in the end the bishops felt that the issues were too complex and difficult to be decided there and then. So the issue was handed back to the central (or executive) committee of the Bishops' Conference for action. Archbishop Wilson wrote a letter to CfM on 30 November 2007 on behalf of the Conference in which he said in part that "...we [the bishops] intend to pursue discussions at future Plenary Meetings of those aspects of Church life which are within our competence as a Conference of Bishops in the Universal Church". (See News Items for a copy of the complete letter).

However, we got bad news when on 12 May 2008 Catholics for Ministry received  the following letter (dated 9 May 2008) from Archbishop Philip Wilson of Adelaide, President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. This letter made it clear that the bishops were unwiling to discuss futher any of the issues raised by the Petition. Archbishop Wilson's letter stated:

"The matters which you raise in ... the petition are of quite diverse doctrinal and disciplinary import. They are also largely beyond our competence as a national Conference of Bishops within the universal Church.

Your letter (he is referring to a letter sent to him by Paul Collins asking about the progress of the petition) seems to underestimate the challenges to faith which we now confront.

It would not, therefore, be appropriate in these circumstances for the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference to engage in on-going correspondence with you on these issues. The Bishops will, however, continue in other ways to address the current challenges."

In other words, almost 17,000 Catholics have been told ministry is none of their business and that the Bishops Conference is no longer talking to them.

Now one of the biggest problems the petition orgainzers have is communication, especially since most of those who signed did so after Mass in their parishes. So we have now written to EVERY parish in Australia asking the parish priest or whoever is leading the community to pass on the following letter to all parishioners. We've also sent it to all who signed up via the net and who left their email address.

Meanwhile, what can you do? You can write to your own bishop expressing your disappointment that the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference didn't take the petition seriously and have now refused to talk to us. You can ask your bishop what he is going to do about the shortage of priests? You can tell him that importing foreign priests and seminarians is certainly not the answer. All that does is to asset-strip third world countries and place young, inexperienced priests in cultural situations that are alien to their upbringing and formation.

You can encourage him to seize the moment and take the initiative to do something worthwhile  for the diocese by inviting former priests who are willing and acceptable back to ministry, as well as beginning the process of choosing suitable lay men to begin immediate training for priestly ministry. You can ask him to publicly discuss the role of women in ministry, even if he feels he can't talk about the ordination of women. Neverthless, make sure you tell him if you support the ordination of women (that is, if you do?). You can check on how many women work in ministry in your diocese and see what leadership positions they hold. You can stimulate other people to write to the bishop.

What we need is Catholics to begin to participate again passionately and actively in the life of the church.  We can't wait; we have to act now. 

Archbishop Wilson's letter indicates that he thinks that the Catholic church is HIS church. We need to remind him and his colleagues that it is actually OUR church as well as their's, and that while bishops have a responsibility for the universal communion through their membership of the college of bishops, their primary resonsibility is to the local church and above all to their own dioceses. For far too long many bishops have thought that their only responsibility was to Rome. We have to remind them that their primary responsibility is leadership of the local church.

If you do write to the bishop and you'd like to send us a copy of the letter. Please just post it to Catholics for Ministry, PO Box 4053, Manuka. 2603. [And you can smile to yourself as you do so. Our box is much less than a metre away at Manuka post office from the box of the papal nuncio to Australia!]

                                       ****CfM needs your support****

While we run Catholics for Ministry with minimal voluntary support, like every organization we have costs - things like postage, printing, maintaining the web page. Can you help? If so please send your cheque made out to Catholics for Ministry to:

Catholics for Ministry,

PO Box 4053,

Manuka. ACT. 2603.

Thank you.