One of the main contributions I, as a member of the National Coordinating Team, try to make to Corpus Canada, is to connect with other reform groups in the Catholic Church. I see Corpus Canada as one among many such groups, and, united with other groups, it can have a strong voice in calling for reform on many issues, including married priests, women priests, a greater role for women in the Church, a stronger voice for lay people, and the development of small faith communities both within and outside the Church.

For these purposes, I feel Corpus Canada must have a strong national voice, able to speak out and draw attention to these issues both worldwide and in Canada. Worldwide we should be united with other reform groups in the Church, beginning with other national married priests’ groups throughout the world as well as the International Federation of Married Catholic Priests. In Canada we should be connected with other reform groups such as the Catholic Network for Women’s Equality, Concerned Catholics of Ottawa, Catholics of Vision, and the now dormant Toronto-based Canadian Conference of Concerned Catholics. We should strive for a united front for reform among these and other Canadian groups.

It is important for Corpus to be aware of and participate in the activities of reform groups with a different and even broader perspective than ours. Thus, besides attending our own conferences, Corpus Canada members should learn about and if possible participate in conferences of other groups such as the Call to Action (the umbrella group which brings together reform groups from across the United States and Canada), We Are Church, and Women’s Ordination Worldwide.

For these reasons I have attended conferences of some of these groups. Meeting and praying with people of like mind at these conferences, and hearing prominent speakers in the reform movement are a source of hope and commitment when one sees little support for change locally and even nationally. As a member of the NCT, I try to bring this hope and enthusiasm to people in Corpus Canada, and to encourage members to open themselves to groups and movements with similar aims and gifts to our own.

I believe that only by being an active part of a larger movement for reform in the Catholic Church will Corpus Canada achieve the goals which, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, it has set for itself and for the Church.