MELBOURNE, Australia,
Oct. 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- On the
eve of 500th anniversary of the most significant reform of the
Catholic Church leading to the Protestant Reformation, an
Australian priest excommunicated for supporting women priests, has
launched a radical program to reform the Catholic Church.
Father Greg Reynolds, founder of
Inclusive Catholics, a liberated fringe group of Catholics
disillusioned with, and disenfranchised from, the institutional
church, is calling for parishioners across the globe to take
greater responsibility for their local church.
His plan is for parishes to establish what he calls a 'House of
the Laity' to empower church-going Catholics to take responsibility
for the life of their parishes.
"The House of the Laity is a structure whereby Catholics can
have an official voice in how their parishes are run; currently,
there is none," Fr Reynolds said.
Fr Reynolds has launched a crowd-funding campaign to develop a
kit for Catholic laity to establish their own House of the Laity
and run their local parish in partnership with the parish
priest.
The kit will include a step-by-step guide of how to implement a
House of the Laity.
"I believe most priests would welcome the support that this
initiative would provide them," Fr Reynolds said.
"Currently, all the responsibility of the governance of a parish
falls on the shoulders of the local priest; parishioners can only
advise through a parish council."
"With vocations dwindling, and an ageing clergy, this
responsibility is becoming more and more onerous. Establishing a
House of the Laity will mean that the load is more justly shared
and then there can be more genuine co-responsibility between the
priest and the laity."
Fr Reynolds is calling on interested Catholics to help fund the
development and distribution of the kit worldwide.
"Martin Luther took a very brave
step when he nailed his 95 theses to the door of the church in
Wittenberg, Germany, on
31 October 1517, opposing abuses of
the time. However, without that step the church might still be
selling indulgences," he said.
"In the wake of the revelations of various inquiries
internationally into horrendous clerical abuse, a further serious
reform is now urgently required."
To contribute to the crowd-funding campaign to develop and
distribute the House of the Laity Kit for Catholics go to:
https://www.gofundme.com/help-renew-the-catholic-church
Image:
http://distribution.medianet.com.au/Download/Document?j=887758&s=2&k=525156
Caption: Father Greg Reynolds
Media enquiries:
Sally Gibson
+61 (0)409-197-717