The People Speak Out

Local voices connecting globally

This is important: to get to know people, listen, expand the circle of ideas. The world is crisscrossed by roads that come closer together and move apart, but the important thing is that they lead towards the Good.  (Pope Francis)

Canon Law 212 calls upon the laity to speak up:

2 - The Christian faithful are free to make known to the pastors of the Church their needs, especially spiritual ones, and their desires.

§3. - According to the knowledge, competence, and prestige which they possess, they have the right and even at times the duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful, without prejudice to the integrity of faith and morals, with reverence toward their pastors, and attentive to common advantage and the dignity of persons.

Would I go back to the Church that I left? No, of course not. I became a Catholic aged 18 before VAT II, when the world then was conservative and I who had no background of a committed faith needed the certainty that the Catholic Church gave. I was committed to all the Church’s teachings, including NFP although I find it restrictive and mechanical – but I did have two children which is how many I wanted.

But over the years, including being on Parish Councils, and as a reader at Mass, I became aware that I was stuck in a time warp. That the world had moved on but the Church was still dogmatizing and we, women were expected to leave our brains behind at the door whilst listening to unsound advise from male celibates talking about subjects that they had absolutely no understanding of.
I fortunately met up with like minded people and we began our own journey of understanding what it is to be Christian in the 21st century. I did of course suffer grief when making the decision to leave the Church, I had been so involved with my parish and my social life, but it was time to become and adult in my faith and I just had to leave.
So, would I go back? Not if the structure is the same – rows upon rows of men sitting there all wearing the same gear, all spouting the same doctrines – not a woman in site and nothing, nothing having changed.

 

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