September 2002 Call to Action News

CTA organizing local action teams in response to abuse crisis

Many veteran commentators on Church history have reflected that the clergy sexual abuse scandal has created perhaps the greatest opportunity for serious reform in the Church since the Council. The American Catholic laity have awakened to their responsibility as full members of the Church. Leaving all decision-making to the hierarchy is no longer a viable option. The risk is simply too great. Call To Action's voice, expertise and passion make it a leader in the movement for justice for survivors, safety for children, and an end to the abusive power structure of the Church which itself gave rise to the crisis. CTA leaders have been working intensely on a plan of action.

With coordination and staffing from the national office, on-the-ground expertise from regional chapters, and energy from members' renewed commitment to action for reform, CTA will develop action committees in dioceses around the country to:

• monitor the implementation of the Bishops' Charter for the Protection of Children;
  
• educate the laity about their rights, and the possibilities for reformed governance structures in the church;
  
• assess the level of transparency and financial accountability of the dioceses;
  
• continue advocating for women's rights, women priests and married priests that CTA has long stood for;
  
• dialogue with the bishops about our concerns;
  
• generate continued media attention for our key issues.

CTA will make public its research on diocesan implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children, and will also share its information with the Office for Child Protection, newly established at the bishops' conference by the national lay review board. To ensure collaboration, CTA leaders are in ongoing dialogue with the leadership of Voice of the Faithful, and of the Survivors' Network of Those Abused by Priests, especially Barbara Blaine, SNAP founder, who first joined CTA during the peace marches of the early 1980s in Chicago.

A special double session on this organizing effort will be offered at the CTA National Conference Nov. 2.

For information on how you can get involved at this new organizing moment, contact Claire Noonan: 773-404-0004, ext. 285, claire@cta-usa.org