We Are Church
We-Are-Church-Ireland.org
January 28, 2013
http://we-are-church-ireland.org/
See the Latest News page for more information on what we are doing and for links to informative articles, websites, radio and tv programmes
The International Movement We Are Church, founded in Rome in 1996, is committed to the renewal of the Roman Catholic Church on the basis of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and the theological spirit developed from it.
'We are Church' evolved from the Church Referendum in Austria in 1995 that was started after the paedophilia scandal around Vienna's Cardinal Groer.
'We are Church' is represented in more than twenty-eight countries, on all continents and is networking worldwide with similar minded reform groups.
History Of WAC Ireland:
In Ireland in May 1997 Thomas Arens, a founder member of WAC Germany, came to All Hallow's College in Ireland to tell us of the experience in Europe when a petition was circularised to reflect people's opinions regarding the necessity for church reform. As a result of this an Irish petition "Gui na Pobal" was formulated and signatures were collected. In October 1997 the total, 2.5 million signatures worldwide, were presented in Rome at a shadow international meeting of 'WAC'.
A national core-group was formed at this time which has stayed active in various forms. We have kept in contact with other reforming groups in Ireland, who share our concern in working for change and renewal in the church.
We have an active Email circle with approx 250 members and a Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/#!/WeAreChurchIreland) which we use to share news, articles, information, and current material in matters affecting the people of God from all over the world. We have a Dublin group which meets monthly and are working towards having local groups across the country.
Representives from Ireland have attended the international meetings since 2004.In this way we feel part of a global movement.
We organised an Advent Celebration liturgy in November 2010 as an inclusive celebration of our faith to which all were welcome and have been rganising further events follow the success of the celebration. Details will be available in the Latest News section of the website and Facebook as events come up.
Our Aims:
We seek to bring about informed dialogue among the people of God on the five objectives common to every group in the International Movement We Are Church.
1. Equality of all the baptised where decision making is actively shared by all, with appropriate structures for this.
2. Full participation of women in all aspects of church life, including priesthood.
3. Recognition of the primacy of an informed conscience.
4. Removal of the obligation of clerical celibacy and a positive attitude toward sexuality.
5. An inclusive church, open and welcoming to all, which does not marginalise its own people, e.g. divorced, in second relationships, those who are gay or lesbian.
International Network We Are Church (IMWAC)
The International Movement We are Church is a network of independent and autonomous groups united by the Internet which allows for the feeling of a united global group. The ethos of each national group is one of brotherly & sisterly "communion" with no hierarchical form of organisation. Groups operate nationwide. Membership is very open and unstructured, there is no membership fee. People feel free to donate towards the movement as they see fit. Click on the IMWAC image (top left column) to visit the IMWAC website.
IMWAC council:
This is a team of 5 - 7 men & women elected by the council, who represent the cultural and geographical differences within the Catholic church giving the movement general direction worldwide. Each country is represented by 2 people. Each representative has 1 vote in the council.
'WAC Ireland' has been represented at 6 of these bi-annual meetings of the IMWAC Council.
The IMWAC council have intensive correspondence by Internet.
Contact: pjfreitas@gmail.com
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