Who are CfM?

Who Are Catholics for Ministry?

We are a group working for a renewed priestly ministry

Catholics for Ministry (CfM) is a group of Catholics who are working for the renewal of the ministry of the Catholic church. Central to this is a reform of the priestly ministry. CfM are calling on the bishops of Australia to assume authority for ordaining a sufficient number of ministers to provide ...

* regular celebration of Mass
* easy accessibility to the celebration of the Sacraments
* adequate leadership and pastoral care for communities and parishes

This also involves a renewed commitment to evangelization, especially of young people. CfM points out that the current acute shortage of priests is completely artificial because of the requirement of celibacy. For the first millennium of the history of the Church most priests were married, so there is a strong precedent for married clergy. They also came from the local communities which they served, and it was not only against canon law but it was seen as heresy for bishops to move from diocese to diocese.

CfM believes that the Spirit of God always provides sufficient ministers to work in the vineyard and that the long-established tradition of the church is that these will come from the communities for whom they are ordained to serve. CfM also believes in supporting women in ministry and  and contends that the Church needs to have a wide-ranging discussion of the ordination of women and the role of women in ministry. Clearly there is no shortage of ‘vocations' or men and women to carry out the ministry. There is just an artificial shortage of celibate males.

CfM doesn't believe that this problem will be solved by Australian dioceses bringing in priests from other countries to serve here. Priests should be ordained to serve specific communities and shouldn't be shifted all around the world. This only results in placing both people and priests in conflictual cultural situations because very few people have the cultural adaptability and sensitivity to be able to do this successfully.

In order to bring these issues to public notice, CfM launched a Petition among Mass-going Catholics asking the bishops to ordain priests for our parishes and communities. The Petition got under way in late August - early September 2007 and ran until early-November 2007. The Text of the Petition read:

We, the undersigned Australian Catholics, wish to express our support for our bishops who are preparing the Australian Catholic Church for new forms of ministry and leadership. We request the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference to place the following items on the agenda for their plenary meeting in November this year, 2007. We ask that the Bishops:

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 (campus, distance and online) to prepare suitable women and men for ministry. These candidates should have the recommendation of their parishes and communities, and should participate in mentored pastoral work; 6. Invite priests who have left the ministry to return to active priesthood, subject to negotiation with the local bishop.

The Petition was considered at the November meeting of the Bishops' Conference. We received the following reply from Archbishop Philip Wilson of Adelaide, the President of the ACBC:

30 November 2007.

Dear Paul,

I write to acknowledge receipt of the petition which was forwarded in the name of many Australian Catholics.

The issues metioned in the petition were referred to by members of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference at our recent Plenary Meeting in a wide-ranging discussion of vocations, Church ministry and the life of the Church. During the discussion it was clear that the Bishops continue to be deeply concerned to make adequate pastoral and sacramental provision for the Church in Australia.

We intend to pursue discussion at future Plenary Meetings of those aspects of Church life which are within our competency as a Conference of Bishops in the Universal Church.

Yours sincerely in Christ,

+Philip Wilson.

In CfM's view this is a totally inadequate response. It is the fundamental responsibility of episcopal conferences to care for the local Church. Bishops are not primarily ordained to administer the latest Roman line on Church government but to serve and lead the local Catholic community. As Paul Collins says in his 2008 book Believers. Does Australian Catholicism have a future? 'If the Vatican and the pope persist in their refusal to allow the ordination of properly trained and appropriate married men and the consideration of a much broader ministry for women, then it is up to the local churches to assume responsibility for their own futures. It would not be the first time the papacy had to be reformed from outside of Rome. Ultimately this challenge faces all Catholics who have a fundamental right to the regular and reasonably accessible celebration of Mass and the sacraments, and bishops have an obligation to provide that. They also have a fundamental responibility to provide leadership in the local churches entrusted to them. Their accountability to the papacy must take second place to this primary loyalty. If Rome is unwilling to move, local bishops have to intervene. If not they will stand judged by the Catholic community and their ordination commitment to the local church' (pp 91-2).

The real tragedy is that most of the bishops know what they need to do and many of them are supportive of married priests - and of the need for a renewed ministry for women, including ordination - but they are caught by their false sense of loyalty to Rome and to the clerical and episcopal 'club'.

Catholics for Ministry are working to change this.