The We Are Church Catholic Referendum, now gathering signatures in the U.S., is fast becoming a worldwide movement. National coordinator Maureen Fiedler reports that parallel referenda are now moving in Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Great Britain, Nicaragua, Mexico, Uruguay, Brazil, Chile, Australia and Canada. Leaders from many nations are meeting in Rome this November to plan strategies for action at a global level. Part of this discussion will be the U.S. plan to take the various referenda to the Vatican at the same time in 1997, and there to call for a new General Council of our church.

"Never before in church history has there been so broad a movement challenging Vatican policies," said Fiedler after meeting referendum leaders in Europe in July. Activists in Germany and Austria, where the referendum gathered 2.3 million signers in 1995, told her one modest victory already has been the willingness of some of their bishops to dialogue with them on the issues.

A counter-referendum?

U.S. Bishops'Conference President Anthony Pilla of Cleveland had predicted that the We Are Church Referendum would only polarize Catholics and spawn counter-referenda. The only sign of a counter-campaign appeared June 25 on Mother Angelica's Eternal Word TV Network news. The reactionary Missouri-based Women for Faith and Family, headed by Helen Hull Hitchcock of St. Louis, announced a new push for signatures on its "Affirmation for Catholic Women," an existing document which WFF claims has already been signed by 50,000 women in the U.S. and 10,000 abroad. It affirms that "God's Divine Plan" dictates sharp distinctions between male and female roles. Human females can never be ordained because they "share in the creativity of God by their capacity to bring forth new life." They can "no more be priests than men can be mothers."

Send signatures now

If you have collected signatures and contributions, send them in today. Plan to do so on at least a monthly basis. What's needed is a steady flow of returns so they don't all flood the national headquarters right before the Pentecost, 1997 wrap-up. Send to We Are Church Coalition, P.O. Box 2548, Fairfax, VA 22031. Make checks payable to We Are Church Coalition.

Are you willing to form a Referendum Committee in your area? Call Jayne Clancy, grassroots coordinator. Phone 703-352-1766. FAX 703-352-5181.