Call for Catholic Church Reform Modeled on Declaration of Independence

Recent events have demonstrated that the Catholic Church is still a medieval, feudal institution, not accountable for its behavior. It's time to apply the principles of democracy and freedom to effect major change.

(PRWEB) July 5, 2004 -- Using the U.S. Declaration of Independence as a model, Web-based Lost Dog, Tall Weeds, LLC, has issued the 4th of July Call for Essential Catholic Church Reform and placed it on the Internet in the form of a petition.

The petition can be found at http://www.petitiononline.com/ldtw62/petition.html

The petition declares that:
•All women and men are created equal
•The Creator has endowed us with certain inalienable rights, including life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, freedom of conscience, and freedom of speech
•To secure these rights, men and women institute governments, which derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, not from a small group who are unaccountable to the larger community
•Recent events have demonstrated that the Catholic Church has in effect become a government of the hierarchy, by the hierarchy, and for the hierarchy
•Church officials have relegated the laity to second-class status-a condition that cries out for essential reform

The petition calls for the immediate removal or resignation of all bishops who were complicit in the sexual abuse scandal.

It calls for all Catholics to work toward full implementation in 10 years of the following changes in church positions:
•Open the priesthood to married men and to women
•Provide equal access of all qualified people to all positions in the Church
•Make priestly celibacy optional
•Realign the churchs positions on sexual ethics (e.g., contraception, homosexuality) to conform to the compassion of Jesus expressed in the Gospels
•Honor the right of freedom of speech and freedom of conscience of all people
•Promote full lay partnership in all aspects of church life at all levels
•Increase ecumenical efforts to all Christians and non-Christians

In conclusion, it calls for the following democratic reforms in church governance within 20 years:
•Selection, by the peoples duly elected representatives, of bishops and the Pope, to limited terms in office, with the right of recall
•Selection of pastors by the people whom they will serve and lead
•Separation of church legislative, executive, and judicial powers through a series of checks and balances documented in a ratified constitution
•Formation of trusts to provide for the control of church assets by the people who supplied them