In the shadow of the Vatican, alternative Catholic groups push for change

 

In the shadow of the Vatican, alternative Catholic groups push for change

VATICAN CITY (VATICAN CITY)
CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) [Toronto, Canada]

October 6, 2023

By Megan Williams

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Women’s voices loom large — both inside and out of a major meeting on church’s future

[Photo above: Survivors of clergy sex abuse from Canada and around the world [Ending Clergy Abuse ECA] are shown marching near the Vatican on Wednesday after a five-day pilgrimage to Rome. (Megan Williams/CBC)]

This week in St. Peter’s Square, as men in long robes shuffled in solemn processions, with corals and canticles blending with church bells, small groups of Catholic protesters gathered half-a-kilometre away, at the far end of the wide avenue leading up to the Vatican square.

At the end of Via della Conciliazione, or Reconciliation Avenue, ceremonies marked the start of the “synod on synodality” — essentially church-speak for a global summit on the future of the Catholic Church, with an emphasis on listening.

Cardinals, bishops, some clergy and ordinary Catholics from around the world are spending the better part of this month…