Catholics Speak Out

For Immediate Release
We Are Church-USA regards the very unpleasant confusion around the succession of the Polish Primate, and other problematical appointments of bishops in recent years, as an urgent signal warning to the Vatican to make decisions on its personnel much more carefully and in much closer cooperation with local churches.
"We see clearly the consequences of the over-centralization of authority in the Vatican," says Rea Howarth, one of two U.S. delegates to the International Movement We Are Church (IMWAC) Council, the federation's governing body. "It is not serving the interests of the People of God."
Vatican officials strongly supported the selection of Bishop Stanislaw Wielgus, Bishop of Plock since 1999, despite his history of collaboration with the Polish Secret Police during the Cold War for "much too long", the group says.
"We believe the Vatican has done immeasurable damage to the credibility and the political independence of the Roman-Catholic Church in Poland and elsewhere."
Similar controversial appointments of bishops triggered the church referendum in Austria in 1995 and led to the formation of the International Movement We are Church. See http://www.we-are-church.org
The first of the five demands of IMWAC is the need for broad consultation and collaborative decision-making, including consultation with the people from churches within the affected dioceses and archdioceses.
The U.S. arm of We Are Church is one of 42 international affiliates of IMWAC. For more information, visit http://www.we-are-church.org