Sydney, 01 Aug 2007: In a breaking news story this evening, a group of lay and religious Catholic leaders and activists has published a petition calling on the Australian Catholic Bishops to collectively discuss the possibility of ordination of married men and, separately, the controversial issue of the ordination of women. The petitioners have made the call in the context of a wider call for discussion about the crisis in the lack of priests available in many parts of Australia.

The petitioners are seeking to mobilise as many as possible in the dwindling practising congregation across Australia to join them in this call from the grass roots to the leaders of the Church. The lead petitioners include a number of high profile Catholics, both lay and religious, and is without precedent in the history of the Catholic Church in Australia.

The original petitioners sent their letter individually to each of the approximately 50 Australian Catholic Bishops on the 18th June and have so far received received eleven replies. They claim one response was negative, two of them were non-committal and eight are sympathetic. The high proportion of sympathetic responses has given the petitioners the confidence to make their petition public and to call on the broad body of Australian Catholics to join them in the call for discussion of measures to address the crisis in Ministry facing the Church in Australia.

Following is the full text of the original letter sent to the Australian Bishops…

A Letter to the Catholic Bishops of Australia

PO Box 4053
Manuka
ACT 2603

18 June 2007

Bishops Name
Address
City Postcode

Dear Bishop ______________,

We write to you as members of the Australian Catholic Church to express deep concern about several key challenges that are facing us all as Catholics. At the same time we are especially heartened that the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference has commissioned excellent research projects on the specific issues that we wish to highlight.

These specific issues are:

• 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.

It is obvious to most Catholics that there is a major crisis of ministry and leadership in Australian Catholicism. A number of bishops have acknowledged this. This is already limiting the Church's capacity to provide Mass and the sacraments for the Catholic community. It is also damaging the Church's capacity to provide pastoral care and is limiting its missionary role in the wider secular community. The Church, at its best, could play a crucial role in ameliorating the suffering and darkness in which so many people live: not only their mental, physical, emotional and psychological suffering, but their spiritual darkness as they search for meaning and direction in their daily lives.

While it is true that bishops are constrained in what they can do by the Vatican, the Catholic tradition is clear: the bishop's primary responsibility is to his diocese and more broadly to the national Church.

At the same time we are aware that there are many people in our communities who are already well educated in theology and liturgy and are well gifted with talent for pastoral ministry and leadership. We are therefore asking each bishop individually and the bishops as a conference 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 (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.

We would therefore request that these issues be placed on the agenda of the November plenary meeting of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference later this year.

Your's sincerely,

Paul Collins & Frank Purcell

Readers who are interested in adding their name to the petition are urged to contact the petition organisers through fpurcell@mcmedia.com.au

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