Is the Catholic Church on the verge of major reforms?


Pope Francis, What they don't teach in Catholic College

ย ย ย ย The winds of change are blowing.
ย ย ย ย Could the Catholic Church be on the verge of the most significant reforms it has enjoyed since Vatican II?
ย ย ย ย It wouldn't happen overnight, of course, but it's a real possibility, depending on what comes out of Pope Francis' "Synod 2021-2023." In a nutshell, the synod is a 2-year process in which bishops around the world are consulting with Catholics of every stripe: lay people, priests, nuns, etc. At the end of this period, the bishops will gather to discuss ways in which the governance of the Church can become more "synodal" โ€“ that is, more open to the ideas of various groups that make up the Church. This means, among other things, that the people in general, the laity, will have more of a voice.
ย ย ย ย  "[This is] a ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ...involving the entire People of God: ...bishops, priests, religious and laity have to listen to one another," Pope Francis has written. " It is not ... a survey, but a matter of listening to the Holy Spirit... ." ย ย ย 
ย ย ย ย Signaling his openness to change for the better, Pope Francis also writes that it's dangerous "to apply old solutions to new problems." He points out that ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜บ ๐˜ช๐˜ด "๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜Š๐˜ฉ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ." He warns against an attitude that says, " 'We have always done it this way,' and it is better not to change."
ย ย ย ย  One voice that is being heard loud and clear is that of John Wijngaards, a reform-minded Catholic priest and theologian who founded and leads the Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research. He's written a book titled "๐˜›๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜Š๐˜ฉ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜™๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ: ๐˜”๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ข ๐˜Š๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜—๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต." (Available from the publisher, www.acadianhouse.com/spirituality-enlightenment.) These "10 Commandments" form an ideal framework for any synodal discussions on the real issues facing the Church today.
ย ย ย ย  A quick read of Wijngaards' proposal has been published in The Synodal Times. It can be seen at (https://wijngaardsinstitute.org/Synodal-Times-Jan2023-short2.pdf) Recommendations include: allowing priests to marry, welcoming women into the priesthood and diaconate, and avoiding the appointment of narrow-minded bureaucrats intent on blocking Church reform.ย 

ย #franciscans #jesuits #catholicchurch #popefrancis #churchreform #womenpriests #synod #synodalchurch




How did this guy with kidney disease become 'the stronge... Doctors told him he wouldn't live past the age of 12, that his kidney disease was terminal. But he didn't believe the doctors โ€“ and he d...
Trent Angers
About the Author๐—”๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—”๐˜‚๐˜๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ฟ... ๐—ง๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—”๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ - Nominated twice for the Nobel Prize in Literature (2000 and 2001). - Author of 8 published books, ...
Dale Brown Court: ... and the Battle for Human DignityIf you've ever wondered why โ€œDale Brown Courtโ€ was painted on the floor of the Pete Maravich Assembly Center at LSU, here's the short an...
The short, happy tale of the Mardi Gras King Cake๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜, ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐˜† ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ถ ๐—š๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ž๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—–๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ Everyone and his brother seems to be buying King Cakes these days. Grocery stores an...