Dear Friends of FutureChurch: We hope you enjoy our April E-Newsletter. Share it with others by clicking here.
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FutureChurch Responds to Vatican Abuse Crisis An April 6 FutureChurch press release points to the need for a change in Church governance structures and for checks and balances that will hold church leaders accountable to victims and ultimately to Catholic laity.
Read more...
Enlightening (and Consoling) Editorials
Peggy Noonan: The Catholic Church's Catastrophe
James Carroll: Rescue Catholicism from Vatican
Regina Brett: Why do Catholics stay?
Ratzinger Defended: An op ed and two articles that provide enormous perspective on the present crisis in leadership.
Ross Douhat (New York Times) The Better Pope
Jason Berry (National Catholic Reporter) Money paved way for Maciel's influence in the Vatican
Related Articles
Abuse cases show need for greater women's role, Vatican newspaper says (Catholic News Service)
Vatican tells bishops to report clerical sex abuse to police
(Washington Post)
Vatican Outlines Path to Restoring Faith in Church
( New York Times)
Annual audit shows decline in sexual abuse reports
(Catholic News Service)
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Newsweek Features Women and the Word Advocacy Newsweek's Lisa Miller makes a powerful case for including women in Catholic leadership in her April 3 cover story for Newsweek. She quotes Kerry Robinson, the Executive Director of the National Leadership Roundtable who traveled to Rome last month to talk to cardinals about women's roles in the Church and women deleted from the lectionary: Robinson found that some hadn't noticed the women's stories were gone. "If the stories of the women and girls of the Bible aren't told, then mothers and daughters will stop seeing themselves as part of the Body of Christ. They'll walk away. And they'll take their children with them," she said.
It is great to see FutureChurch's important Women and the Word initiative expand and be supported by other Catholic women leaders around the world. Our advocacy was instrumental in encouraging the Vatican's 2008 Synod on the Word to invite the most women experts ever and, for the first time, raising awareness in Rome about women deleted from the lectionary.
Read the Newsweek article
Read about FutureChurch's Women and the Word initiative
Women and the Word Resources for Educators
Women and the Word in your parish or small faith community
Send an e-postcard to Vatican Officials
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FutureChurch Cofounder Fr. Louis J. Trivison Enters Eternal Life FutureChurch cofounder and beloved spiritual father, Fr. Louie Trivison, went home to God on Wednesday March 17. He suffered from Parkinson's disease and declined quickly after a serious health setback last July. Over 1000 attended his wake and funeral including four bishops and scores of priests who heard homilist Fr. Jim O'Donnell praise Fr. Lou's vision in cofounding FutureChurch. Sr. Chris Schenk was quoted in the Plain Dealer obituary: "Louie helped hundreds of people begin to relate to God as a friend, as the one who cared about them more than anybody else, respected their uniqueness and humanity and loved them just as they are.." Read inspiring reflections about Fr. Louie's life |
Cleveland St. Peter's Gives Powerful Witness at Closing Mass "The power of fear which has caused this injustice is not the last word, must not be the last word and will not be the last word," said Fr. Bob Marrone at the closing Mass of Historic St. Peter's parish on Easter Sunday. "I know it seems unbearable but we can bear it. Go forth into the world and be living stones," Marrone said. "God will tent with us wherever he go." Marrone predicted that the closing of the downtown church and suppression of the parish would come to be seen as, "one of the most egregious mistakes ever made by this diocese."
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Cleveland Parishes Granted Appeal Extensions At least seven churches ordered closed by Bishop Richard Lennon of the Cleveland Catholic Diocese received letters from the Vatican April 8, extending the deadline for reviewing the churches' appeals of the closings. Meanwhile, Bishop Lennon is making an unexpected journey to Rome on April 12. Read more...
Related Stories:
Youngstown Diocese closes buildings, but merges congregations
Catholic priest, the Rev. Bob Begin, challenges Bishop on church closings
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Crying Out with A Million Voices FutureChurch is launching a new education-advocacy effort geared to providing ordinary Catholics with tools to discuss pressing issues facing the Catholic Church and to resist unjust suppression of that discussion by some Church officials. The failure of bishops to deal with the priest shortage, women's equality in the church, clergy sex abuse, and the lack of transparency in no small number of financial scandals is driving even the most faithful Catholics from the Church.
Even so, FutureChurch believes the power of the Spirit at work in the People of God has great healing and transformative potential for the life of the Church.The Million Voices project will provide education and advocacy information to address these and other painful situations. Email emily@futurechurch.org to be notified when the free downloadable resource becomes available (late April or early May). Read more...
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Women of Spirit" Pentecost Service Added to Easter Packet
A new "Women of Spirit" Pentecost prayer service is now available as part of the Women and the Word: Holy Week and Easter Packet.
Read more...
Order now for free shipping
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Report to our Members: FutureChurch Board Meeting The trustees and directors of Future Church gathered on February 12 and 13 for our annual in person board meeting. The Board met with Gen Next participants and worked on the action steps for our new strategic plan.
To read what transpired click here:
FutureChurch's updated Mission and Vision statement
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| Book Review: The Future Church: How Ten Trends are Revolutionizing the Catholic Church. One's first impulse upon opening this book is to hope that the author will tell us what we want to hear. That temptation must be resisted. Read full review... |
Sponsor a Listening Session On the Future of the Church The American Catholic Council is a new coalition of organizations, communities and individuals organizing "discussion at every level of the Catholic Church in the United States to consider the state and future of our Church." The coalition will convene a nationwide conference on Pentecost 2011 (June 10-12) at Cobo Hall in Detroit, Michigan.
But first it hopes to encourage local and regional listening sessions to be held over the next 18 months.
To download a free toolkit for sessions in your home, parish or small faith community click here.
For more info on the American Catholic Council, click here.
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