Roman Catholic activist group founded in
1976 after the "historic"
American bishops
council "
Call to Action."
Call to Action's (
CTA) mission is the complete transformation of
Catholicism according to what may be perceived as the needs of
postmodern society (if "
postmodernism" has a definition in itself.) CTA includes
progressive laypeople,
liberal academics, male and female
religious, and
clergymen. All share this perception that the
Roman Church is lacking direction in these areas:
1. Absence of a
democratic government. CTA members find the
papal "
monarchy" repulsive since it does not mesh well with current democratic ideals in
western society. CTA would rather see more
collegiality with
prelates.
2. Absence of gender-fair
ordination. CTA desperately would like to see women ordained as
priests. Undaunted by recent
Vatican proclamations declaring the issue of women's ordination permanently closed, CTA continues to advance academic and pragmatic arguments as to why women deserve to be ordained. This issue alone has made CTA a
pariah in the eyes of
conservative Catholics.
3. Absence of further reform in
liturgy. CTA also would like to see Roman Catholic liturgy step away from any ancient form of worship into a very inclusive,
politically correct, and
language neutral action. For example, CTA would like to see inclusive language throughout the
Mass; this includes replacing
mankind with
humanity, etc. CTA has a deep dislike of those who attend
Tridentine Masses and those devoted to ancient forms of liturgy.
CTA is one of those organizations that Catholics either love or hate, but rarely view objectively. It's hard to take CTA seriously when one is conservative, and
vice versa.