Be more accepting of divorced Catholics, gays and lesbians

(CNN)Pope Francis put his shoulder to the doors of the Catholic Church and shoved them open a little wider Friday, calling for the church to be more tolerant in practice while not changing any official doctrines.

He urged priests around the world to be more accepting of gays and lesbians, divorced Catholics and other people living in what the church considers "irregular" situations.

"A pastor cannot feel that it is enough simply to apply moral laws ... as if they were stones to throw at people's lives," Francis writes in a sweeping paper outlining his stance on family matters.

He urges more common sense and less unthinking following of rules.

Read the whole article on the CNN website

Celebrate the 22nd Annual World Day of Prayer for Women’s Ordination

The World Day of Prayer is a concerted global action held annually on the feast of the Annunciation, to draw attention to women’s ordination into an inclusive and accountable Catholic Church. Every year, WOC members in the USA and women’s ordination activists around the world host events to honor this special day. For planning and prayer resources click here.

Loving God, On this day when we give thanks for the gift of your incarnation in the womb of your mother Mary, whose Magnificat hymn cries out for justice, we pray for all women who cannot celebrate the Eucharist because the Catholic Church reserves priestly ordination to men. We cry out today for your justice so that women and men may together celebrate the sacraments to build up the body of Christ.  Amen. 

Pope Francis, 17 October 2015, said in a speech commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the setting up of the Synod of Bishops,

The first level of the exercise of synodality is had in the particular Churches. After mentioning the noble institution of the Diocesan Synod, in which priests and laity are called to cooperate with the bishop for the good of the whole ecclesial community,(22) theCode of Canon Law devotes ample space to what are usually called “organs of communion” in the local Church: the presbyteral council, the college of consultors, chapters of canons and the pastoral council.(23) Only to the extent that these organizations keep connected to the “base” and start from people and their daily problems, can a synodal Church begin to take shape: these means, even when they prove wearisome, must be valued as an opportunity for listening and sharing.

Read the whole speech

Read Church reform requires decentralization, synodality by Thomas Reese SJ

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Read Sr Kane's letter to Pope Francis

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