by Don Wedd

Seeds planted at the national conference are germinating into new local groups as winter eases. Participants returned from the Detroit conference with renewed desire to work together on social justice within the church and society in their own areas. In the beautiful Ozarks region of southern Missouri and northern Arkansas, CTA members are gathering in Springfield, Mo. on May 3 under the leadership of Rosemary Velcheck.

Georgia will see its first meeting of CTA members in April. Centered in Atlanta, it is being organized by Mike Harbert, who is already involved in Pax Christi and Haiti Parish Twinning. Carol Ann Breyer is midwifing a local chapter to cover northern Florida. In an area where the number of constituents of each particular group like CORPUS and WOC is small, CTA is seen as an umbrella group bringing reform-minded Catholics together. In Seattle, Barney O'Connor is conducting information sessions at parishes to recruit new members for CTA, and ultimately to form a chapter.

Three separate groups with an interest in forming a chapter in Kansas City have been networked through the national office and are working together.

A number of enthusiastic Catholics have joined together in Portland, Ore., to form a local chapter of CTA. Noting that the broad majority of Catholics support married priests, women's ordination, and other "CTA" objectives, Nancy Barrett-Dennehy said that CTA is the "most articulate" movement working to bridge the gulf between the greater Church and the ecclesiastical authorities. Richard Robedeau, the group's honorary grandfather, said "I find the actions of the present pope a problem because I think that the renewal of the Church has been put on hold." Others agreed that the former bishop of Krakow is an authoritarian whose edicts are in defiance of the Vatican Council on the issues of collegiality, openness, and democracy. Shoring up the Pacific Northwest, The Cascades Call To Action is seeking to broaden its membership in Oregon and southwest Washington with optimists who believe that "We are not on the edge; we are on the horizon."

Raw winter weather in New York City did not stop 30 CTA members coming together in Manhattan in early March. For a year, a small group has been meeting in the Bronx, but they had decided it was time to bring people together from the whole of New York City. Their next gathering will be on April 27 at 7 pm at St. Francis De Sales Church, 135 East 96th St. Call Roger Hayes, 718 543-0645 for information.

Elsewhere, CTAers show early signs of organizing local groups in Little Rock, Ark., Charlotte, N.C., Denison, Iowa, Evansville, Ind., Bloomington, Ind., Washington, D.C., Austin, Tex., Toledo, Ohio, Columbus, Ohio, Northeastern Pennsylvania, and Las Cruces, N.M.