I want to bump this to the top so that more priests will see it after a busy weekend.

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Published on: Apr 25, 2015 @ 9:58

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You will recall that hundreds of priests in England signed a letter, published in the Catholic Herald, urging the upcoming Synod to uphold Catholic doctrine and discipline concerning marriage and the family. HERE

That letter created a stir.

I now see that there is an American initiative for Catholic priests to sign a similar letter!

HERE

Signers, be patient. It seems that your names will not post automatically. I think that someone must verify the names, which is a good idea. There will be a delay.

Lay people, please let your priests know about this initiative and ask them to sign it. Tell them you’ll be watching the list.

I urge all the priestly readers to sign this letter. I have.

To the Synod Fathers: In union with our brother priests in the United Kingdom (conforming to the teachings summarized in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1650-51), we make our own the petition they signed urging the Synod Fathers in the upcoming Synod to stand firm on the Church’s traditional understanding of marriage, human sexuality and pastoral practices: Following the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops in Rome in October 2014 much confusion has arisen concerning Catholic moral teaching. In this situation we wish, as Catholic priests, to re-state our unwavering fidelity to the traditional doctrines regarding marriage and the true meaning of human sexuality, founded on the Word of God and taught by the Church’s Magisterium for two millennia. We commit ourselves anew to the task of presenting this teaching in all its fullness, while reaching out with the Lord’s compassion to those struggling to respond to the demands and challenges of the Gospel in an increasingly secular society. Furthermore we affirm the importance of upholding the Church’s traditional discipline regarding the reception of the sacraments, and the millennial conviction that doctrine and practice remain firmly and inseparably in harmony. We urge all those who will participate in the second Synod in October 2015 to make a clear and firm proclamation of the Church’s unchanging moral teaching, so that confusion may be removed, and faith confirmed. Yours faithfully, Signed:

The priests are listed over there. So far there are 2 bishops and 119 priests at the time of this posting, but I imagine there is a long queue.

Heh heh… the person doing the verification is about to get an avalanche.

Fr. Z Kudos and ¡Hagan lío!

UPDATE:

We need a #hashtag for twitter.

#USPriests2Synod

UPDATE 24 April 2311 GMT:

Priests 191

Bishops 2

UPDATE 26 April 1854 GMT

Priests 260

Bishops 2

UPDATE 27 April 1445 GMT

Priests 330

Bishops 2

UPDATE 28 April 1816 GMT

Priests 441

Bishops 2

UPDATE 29 April 2236 GMT

Priests 594

Bishops 3

The newest Bishop to sign is the great Paprocki of Springfield in Illinois.

I see a lot of names of priests I know.

UPDATE 30 April

Priests 697

Bihsops 4

The newest Bishop is no surprise.

UPDATE 3 May 1601 GMT:

Priests 775

Bishops 4