Canadian Bishops have been advised

"We hope that our church will position itself closer to the major issues of the world:
impoverishment,
inequalities,
rights and roles of women,
defense of the disenfranchised,
respect for the environment and the
safeguarding of humanity"

Oh and...

also said it regretted the bishops' lack of independence from the Vatican.

There ya go Bishops. And this input is not from laypersons, but from
religious orders. I had a picture of the group that I have since misplaced, but
I didn't see any religious garb in the group. Perhaps they have turned into lay
people.

Well thats what the folks think the Bishops should do. And what should they
stop doing? ...

Representatives of more than 200 Canadian religious orders have written the Canadian bishops, criticising the church for being
rigid and intransigent on sexual morals and
unwelcoming to homosexuals,
having a "clerical mentality" and being
unwilling to give women decision-making roles.

I think that would translate to:

flaccid morals,
gay friendly,
stop being clerics,
give it up to women (who I am guessing were a large part of this
group).

In a telephone interview, Bishop Cazabon said he welcomed the collegial spirit of the letter and understood well the concerns of religious because he is a member of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. "

We welcome any views they would like to express," he said. "Sometimes, though, in reading their message, I had an impression that they speak to the church ... as if they are not in the church. "

We are not antagonistic bodies. We are, together, the church. So I'm afraid what comes out of their document is that they don't come across as being very self-critical," the bishop said. In response to the criticism that the bishops are aligned with the Vatican, Bishop Cazabon said: "
When it comes to the basic doctrinal content, of course, we are all one. When it comes to more disciplinary aspects, we are one on the main things. On the other hand, we as bishops, we are members of the college of bishops, and the head of this college is the pope. So we always try to accomplish our ministry with our brother bishops and with the pope.

Oops, that is not what the group had in mind at all!

As for the role of women in the church, Bishop Cazabon said that his diocese has 45 active priests and 80 lay pastoral associates, 75 of whom are women. "

These women are all in the meetings we attend, they express their views and they are wonderful collaborators in our ministry. If this is not giving enough space to laypeople, especially women, I don't know what else can we do," he said.

"If we push aside the Gospel, well what are we going to become?" asked Bishop Gilles Cazabon of Saint-Jerome, Quebec, president of the Assembly of Quebec Catholic Bishops. "We are going to become a people gathered around a very vague doctrine, with no specific identity, and I would say with no impact on humanity as such."

Sounds like the Bishops are still teaching like Bishops, even after the advice
of the letter.

That's good.

link