American Catholic Council News Stories

The links connect to some of the stories published both before and after the meeting June 10-12, 2011 in Detroit, Michigan.

2,000 meet to call for reform in Detroit:
The American Catholic Council gathering
DETROIT (June 21, 2011) As the inaugural convention of the American Catholic Council was drawing to a close June 12, an estimated 2,000 reform-minded Catholics stood en masse to endorse a 10-point Catholic Bill of Rights and Responsibilities that asserts primacy of conscience and the right of every Catholic to have a voice in the way the church is run, as well as an obligation to advance the proclamation of the Gospel to the world and the church’s social teaching.
By Jerry Filteau, National Catholic Reporter
https://ncronline.org/news/2000-meet-call-reform-detroit

Detroit weekend of lectures, emotions neglects sex abuse crisis
(June 22, 2011) Several thousand Catholics from around the U.S. and even a few foreign countries gathered in Detroit June 10-12 to ponder their assessment of the present and hopes for the future of the Catholic Church.
By Thomas P. Doyle, Commentary in National Catholic Reporter
https://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/detroit-weekend-lectures-emotions-neglects-sex-abuse-crisis

American Catholic Council opens in Detroit
(June 10, 2011) Some may see it as an echo of the fading church of the 1960s, others may see it as a sign of the strength of the church’s left wing. However you see it, the American Catholic Council opening this weekend in Detroit, gathering some 1,800 people from across the country, looks to be interesting.
By Bryan Cones, U.S. Catholic
https://www.uscatholic.org/blog/2011/06/american-catholic-council-opens-detroit

American Catholic Council YouTube Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2Gnpg1DoRUc

Rebel metro priest says he did no wrong by leading mass at conference
(June 14, 2011) The Catholic priest from Ferndale under fire for leading a liberal mass in Detroit last weekend said Monday the church needs to listen more to its priests and parishioners if it is to survive.
By Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press
https://www.freep.com/article/20110614/NEWS05/106140365/Rebel-metro-priest-says-he-did-no-wrong-by-leading-mass-conference

Reflections after the American Catholic Council meeting
(June 14, 2011) I’m a veteran of conferences on church reform. I started out at the first Women’s Ordination Conference in 1975, attended the original Call to Action (the one the U.S. Bishops called in 1976) and participated in numerous Call to Action and Women’s Conferences since then. I’ve even attended a couple in Europe, including the 8th of May Movement in the Netherlands. So, the American Catholic Council meeting in Detroit this past weekend (June 10-12) was of great interest to me. I was especially interested in signs of change and maturing in the movement.
By Maureen Fiedler, National Catholic Reporter
https://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/reflections-after-american-catholic-council-meeting

Detroit Catholics Clergymen Defy Bishop, Turn Out for Liberal Mass
(June 14, 2011) Defying the Roman Catholic archbishop of Detroit, a priest led a Mass Sunday organized by the American Catholic Council, a controversial umbrella group of liberal Catholics. And dozens of Catholic priests and deacons from the Detroit diocese attended the Mass, said organizers.
By Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press
https://www.truth-out.org/detroit-catholics-clergymen-defy-bishop-turn-out-liberal-mass/1308063525

Liberal Catholics to discuss future of church
(CNN, June 9, 2011) Left-leaning Catholics from around the globe will convene in Detroit this weekend for a meeting to discuss what they believe to be the need for reform, openness and greater democracy within the church, according to the American Catholic Council, the organization hosting the convention.
By Chris Boyette, CNN
https://www.cnn.com/2011/US/06/09/catholic.conference/

Baptism, not bishops or pope, unites the church
(June 11, 2011) “Baptism unites the church, not ordination,” theologian and author Anthony T. Padovano told more than 1,800 reform-minded Catholics gathered June 10-12 at Detroit’s Cobo Hall. “The pope does not unify or sanctify the church and make it catholic or apostolic. This is the work of the Spirit and the community.”
By Jerry Filteau, National Catholic Reporter
https://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/baptism-not-bishops-or-pope-unites-church

Mass for liberal believers angers archbishop
(June 13, 2011) Saying there were significant abuses at a mass held Sunday by liberal Catholics, Archbishop of Detroit Allen Vigneron will commission a “careful and thorough review” of the services led by a local Catholic priest, a church spokesman said.
By Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press
https://www.freep.com/article/20110613/NEWS05/106130345/Mass-liberal-believer

Archbishop blasts Ferndale priest’s leading of liberal Mass
(June 12, 2011) The top Catholic leader in Michigan slammed a big liberal Mass today in Detroit, saying it had significant abuses, and he ordered a review of a Ferndale priest who led the services before 1,500 Catholics, a church spokesman said. By Niraj Warikoo, The Detroit Free Press
https://www.freep.com/article/20110612/NEWS05/110612013/Catholic-priests-defy-Church-orders-stay-away-from-liberal-Mass?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Liberal U.S. Catholics say their Church is not listening
DETROIT (June 12, 2011) Members of a liberal group of U.S. Catholics called on Sunday on Church leaders to open talks with their members on controversies ranging from the ordination of women to allowing priests to marry. Members of the American Catholic Council, meeting in Detroit, said they had grown concerned that the Church hierarchy was not listening to its members on issues such as the role of women, married clergy and the treatment of homosexuals.
By Scott Malone, Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/12/us-usa-catholics-idUSTRE75B2CE20110612

Competing conferences show division among U.S. Catholics
DETROIT (June 9, 2011) Two competing visions of the Catholic Church’s future will play out in metro Detroit this weekend with separate conferences — one liberal, the other conservative — that are expected to draw thousands.
By Niraj Warikoo, The Detroit Free Press in USA TODAY
https://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2011-06-09-Detroit-Catholics_09_ST_N.htm?csp=34news

Hans Kung urges peaceful revolution against Roman absolutism
DETROIT (June 11, 2011) Famed theologian Fr. Hans Kung has called for a “peaceful” revolution by world Catholics against the absolutism of papal power.
By Jerry Filteau, National Catholic Reporter
https://ncronline.org/news/faith-parish/hans-kung-urges-peaceful-revolution-against-roman-absolutism

Catholic events split on doctrine
(June 12, 2011) Conservative Catholics blasted liberals and defended their church’s leadership Saturday at a conference in Livonia that was a stark contrast to a separate conference of reform Catholics being held at the same time in Detroit.
By Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press
https://www.freep.com/article/20110612/NEWS05/106120516/Catholic-events-split-doctrine?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|s

The other side of the Catholic tradition
(June 14, 2011) People who came of age in the past 40 years have known only one version of the Roman Catholic Church—a version of an iron-fisted ideology that first John Paul II and then Benedict XVI have enforced in the process of condemning condoms, birth control, liberation theology, creation spirituality, women, gays, the “secular world” and much more. World-over the hierarchy are being criticized for coddling pedophile priests and bishops while denouncing theologians and others who bring ideas to an age-old tradition. All these thoughts and more emerged last weekend at an event in Detroit sponsored by progressive Catholic groups networking as the “American Catholic Council.”
By Matthew Fox, Washington Post commentary
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/guest-voices/post/the-other-side-of-the-catholic-tradition/2011/06/14/AGQuyeUH_blog.html

American Catholic Council in Detroit: They Came, They Dissented, They Disobeyed
DETROIT, MI (Catholic Online, June 14, 2011) – On Pentecost weekend, when the Church throughout the world paused to celebrate the birth of the missionary Church a dissident group calling itself Catholic while directly dissenting from the Magisterium of the Church ignored every request from the Archbishop of Detroit and proceeded with their conference. The Archdiocese offered an excellent explanation of the group, its errors and the confusion it compounds on the Archdiocesan web site.
https://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=41762

Catholics at Cobo blast leaders
(June 11, 2011) In sharp words, a wide range of Catholics blasted their church’s leadership Friday at the opening of a three-day conference in Detroit that seeks to reform what they said is an outdated and secretive club of men out of touch with reality.
By Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press
https://www.freep.com/article/20110611/NEWS01/110611007/Catholics-Cobo-blast-leaders?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE

Despite warnings from Catholic leaders, liberal conference draws large crowd
(June 10, 2011) Calling for reform, Catholics from around the world came to Cobo Center in Detroit on Friday for a three-day conference that’s one of the larger gatherings of liberal Catholics in years. Held by the American Catholic Council, an umbrella group of about 30 liberal Catholic groups, the crowd largely consisted of elderly Catholics who are upset at what they say is the church’s turn to the right.
By Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press
https://www.freep.com/article/20110610/NEWS05/110610056/Despite-warnings-from-Catholic-leaders-liberal-conference-draws-large-crowd?odyssey=tab%7Cmostpopular%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE

Progressive Catholics push for church changes during Detroit conference
(June 11, 2011) Catholics from across the country are calling for change in the Catholic Church during a three-day conference this weekend in Detroit. More than 2,000 people have already shown up at Cobo Center for the American Catholic Council to discuss their push for changes in the church such as allowing priests to marry and increasing the role of women in the Church. The conference began Friday evening and will end Sunday with Mass.
By Candice Williams, The Detroit News
https://www.detnews.com/article/20110611/LIFESTYLE04/106110385/1361/Progressive-Catholics-push-for-church-changes-during-Detroit-conference

Keep the Faith, Change the Church.

American Catholic Council News Stories