Women-Church bypasses Paprocki, appeals directly to Springfield Catholics
While many lay organizations are voicing disdain directly to Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, over his recent decree denying church services to Catholics in same-sex marriages, the feminist coalition Women-Church Convergence is reaching out to the people of the diocese.
Women-Church Convergence, which “is a coalition of autonomous Catholic-rooted groups working to build just social and ecclesial structures with shared power for everyone, especially women and those whom church and society marginalize,” issued the letter July 5 to “friends in faith” in the Diocese of Springfield.
The letter is in response to Paprocki’s diocesan decree released June 12 that bars Catholics in same-sex marriages from receiving Communion, receiving funeral rites, and participating in liturgical ministries — unless the person shows “signs of repentance.”