Church 2011 is a memorandum promulgated by Catholic theology professors, primarily from Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The memorandum, whose full German title is Kirche 2011: Ein notwendiger Aufbruch, was started in Germany in January 2011. The memorandum is a general demand for reform of the Roman Catholic Church in response to the sexual abuse scandal among German priests.
Description
The memorandum demands:
- Structures of participation: more participation of all people in the Catholic Church, particularly through election of bishops and priests;
- Parish community: more help for Catholic communities, with a more explicit sharing of responsibilities. Married priests and women as priests should be allowed;
- Legal culture: the Catholic Church should initiate a church jurisdiction;
- Freedom of conscience: respect for individual conscience, particularly for divorced people, who want to marry again, and for homosexual civil unions;
- Reconciliation: greater reconciliation of the church to her own history; and
- Worship: reform of the Roman Catholic liturgy (with greater modern influence, and more influence from the cultural life of countries).
As of February 2011, over 300 Catholic professors, theologians and other religious scientists from across the world had signed the memorandum.
References
Church 2011 Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA