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Cover
story 1995
petition led to international effort
Austrias 1995 petition drive -- known there under its German
name, the Kirchenvolks-begehren, or peoples movement in
the church -- obtained 505,154 signatures. Thats 8.5 percent of the
countrys 6 million Catholics, or 42.5 percent of the estimated 1.2
million regular Mass-goers.
The drive later spread to Germany where more than a million and a
half Catholics signed. The total exceeded organizers estimates, though it
represented a lower percentage of the countrys Catholics than in Austria.
Elsewhere the drive was less successful: A 1997 campaign in the United States
netted only 37,000 signatures.
The following five points were included in the petition:
- The rights of laity, including the right of the people of a
diocese to be involved in selecting its bishop;
- full rights for women, including ordination to the diaconate
and the priesthood;
- free choice of celibacy by secular priests;
- an appreciation of sexuality, and separation of the issues of
birth control and abortion; and
- an emphasis in church proclamations on good tidings rather than
condemnation.
National Catholic Reporter, October 30,
1998
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