What Sort of Church Do We Want?
We are grateful to our friends at Fe Adulta,of Madrid, for permission to reproduce the following declaration made by a Protestant congregation whose Pastor is Julian Mellado. Translation by the Editor.
Our Nine Principles.
- We want a church where God never ceases to be mystery, the Ineffable; where no one pretends to have him enclosed within any dogma or human concept; where everyone can approach him with authentic liberty to share experiences without fear of being ridiculed or disdained no matter how different they might be.
2. We want a church where God can be identified as a Presence of Love, of Compassion, of Liberty, of Justice and of Truth.
3. We want a church where each one can feel fully accepted as a person; and where everyone desires to fully accept everyone else as persons.
4. We want a church where Jesus of Nazareth is the principal criterion of faith and thought, the undisputed reference to life, the model to follow; a church where one can breathe and share the values of the Master and his commitment to a new humanity; a church where the Gospel becomes flesh in the midst of our society.
5. We want a church where everyone can have their place of encounter, their corner for reflexion, their space for solidarity, their terrain of acceptance; where each one can share with freedom experiences of faith with the conclusions they have thought out; and where everyone can participate in a common effort to discern the Voice of Jesus.
6. We want a church where every member opens arms in an attitude of welcome to anyone who wishes to participate in the community, without any discrimination whatsoever regarding sex, state, race, inclination or culture.
7. We want a church where any strict and imposed dogmatism moves toward a plurality and acceptance which can find themselves in the testimony of Jesus.
8. We want a church that can be a stimulus to men and women of our century and in our culture; that can translate for us with fidelity that which founded the faith in the times and in the culture of the apostles so that it can be a foundation in our times and in our cultures.
9. We want a church which fosters fraternity with all persons and organisations which follow in the footsteps of Jesus, or which struggle with peaceful means for a better world, more just and more equal.
Julian Mellado, Pastor
A Sixteen-Year-Old on the New Translation
An American journalist Robert McClory writes the introduction to a letter written to the National Catholic Reporter. We reprint it with permission.
Erik Baker is a 16-year-old high school student who has been studying Latin since 6th grade. Now as a senior at Evanston Township High School near Chicago, he has completed all the Latin classes available at his school, including the Advanced Placement courses. He is pursuing his ongoing interest through Latin classes at nearby Northwestern University.
Erik has been raised as a Catholic and attends Mass with his family at the Sheil Catholic Centre at Northwestern. Recently, when materials were distributed explaining the new liturgical changes based on the original Latin text, he studied them with special interest.
"When I looked at the new version, I had a sort of knee-jerk reaction," Erik said. "What I saw didn't sit well with me. Yeah, the changes are more literal and faithful to the Latin, but are that desirable? Much of the phrasing and the changes seemed kind of ridiculous."
So he did an analysis and wrote a brief essay, not for class, but just to get his reaction down on paper and out of his system. He said he hadn't read any reviews of the translation before he produced his version. A friend of the family suggested NCR readers might be interested in Erik's critique.
WEEDS AMONG THE WHEAT
STUDY GROUP FOR GOOD CHURCH GOVERNANCE
[WERKVERBAND VOOR DE RECHTSCULTUUR IN DE KERKEN]
Contact address: Mr.P.J.Oudsingel 136, 6836 PT Arnhem, The Netherlands
WEEDS AMONG THE WHEAT
AN OPEN LETTER TO POPE BENEDICT XVI,
ON SEXUAL ABUSE IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
Dear Pope Benedict
On March 19, 2010 you sent a ‘pastoral letter’ to all Catholics in Ireland, in connection with the disclosures about sexual abuse committed by ministers and other members of the Church in Ireland. As a study group for good church governance we read your letter with interest, and we feel invited to react to it. We are doing this because we consider your letter as also addressed to the Church Universal, and consequently also meant for the Church in our country. For your letter deals with a problem which unfortunately has also presented itself, or may do so, elsewhere.
In this open letter we take into account that a pastoral letter is a genre of its own: its subject cannot be treated extensively and exhaustively, and its content cannot be evaluated along strict and systematic theological criteria. Moreover, as you will see when you read this open letter, we are not dealing with every item discussed in your letter – we have selected a few items that touch upon our field of interest: church order and the way it is applied, whether laudably or debatably.
Women in the Church – Thoughts from a Laywoman
Yes, the Church in Britain has involved some fantastic women - women whose appeal for a project in the Dominican Republic led to the formation of CAFOD 50 years ago; the National Board of Catholic Women who gathered from around Britain last month in London to examine the legacy of Vatican II; the women who have run Catholic Peoples’ Weeks which offer families such a great opportunity to explore their faith. I could go on all evening about women who have given their lives to building up the Kingdom of God, inspired by their Catholic faith, and very often working on a voluntary basis or with minimal renumeration.
But I have been asked to highlight the problems women face in the Church and the possibilities. Let’s look at problems first. ...
Readings for the 31st Sunday of the Year (A)
Reflection on today's readings offers an indictment on the situation in Christ's Church today.
Malachi 1: 14-2:2, 8-10.
Matthew 23: 1-12
Meanwhile in 1 Thessalonians 1:7-9, 13 we hear how a true Minister behaves.
Communion Antiphon: "Lord, you will show me the path of life and fill me with joy in your presence."
Are you a questioning Catholic?
Are you questioning ...
Whether you are alone in feeling uneasy about the Church as it is today?
Why you feel you are not being spiritually nourished by the liturgy in your parish?
Whether the Church is living up to the expectations of the Second Vatican Council?
Share your concerns in the company of like minded Catholics
Please, click on the logo below for more information.
