Root & Branch Synod - Bristol, 10-12 Sep 2021

ROOT & BRANCH SYNOD for dignity and inclusivity in the Catholic Church

10 - 12 SEPTEMBER, 2021 
ST MICHAEL’S CHURCH CONFERENCE CENTRE, STOKE GIFFORD, BRISTOL
The event will be both Live & online on Zoom.

Together we’re strong!

Together we care!

Together we listen, we laugh, we pray, we act!

Everyone is welcome.

We are proud to have Professor Mary McAleese, former President of Ireland, Canon Lawyer and Chancellor of Trinity College, Dublin, as our key speaker. Mary has pledged to spend her retirement challenging the Catholic Church. Our other fantastic speakers - see below - will soon be joined by many more during our year-long Journey and at our concluding Synod.

A Synod that, instead of ending with women, starts with them
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Joanna Moorhead called in The Tablet in January 2020 for “a Synod that instead of ending with women starts with them.” 

We heard her call for action. 
 

Sr Myra Poole, SND, a lifetime campaigner for women’s ordination, will open the Synod. Our remit is to return to the inclusivity modelled by Jesus, which includes but is not limited to the dignity & equality of women in the Church.

We are honoured that Prof. Mary McAleese will give our keynote speech on Canon Law, the Church and Human Rights legislation.

She will be joined by the noted art historian Dr Ally Kateusz, and other exciting speakers and leaders, to be announced.

The Synod will agree a set of actions to take us forward. They will be presented to the institutional Catholic Church by the People of God.

For all details please see our website: www.rootandbranchsynod.org
& follow us on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Rootandbranchsynod 

How your donation will be used:

·         £10 per week provides our website, email and domain costs

·         £15 per month provides us a basic Zoom licence

·         £30 per month provides us a more efficient Zoom platform for more people

·         £2,480 provides our livestreaming costs and tech teams for 3 days at the Synod

·         £40 per week enables our web and social media design, services & monitoring

·         £50 each fortnight enables us to offer a modest honorarium to each speaker

·         £500 will enable expenses for one UK speaker next September

·         £5,000 will enable all our speakers, national and international, to attend live (Covid permitting)

·         £550 will enable us to use a reputable international ticketing platform for the Synod

·         £740 provides necessary insurances

Our own commitment:

·         Minimum daily admin costs £75 given pro bono

·         Minimum monthly admin costs £2,250 given pro bono

·         Admin costs already contributed to ROOT & BRANCH pro bono to date: £20,250

About the organiser: Pam Perry

Pamela, wife, mother and grandmother, is a former Cafod key volunteer. As Administrator of London Jubilee she was on the Boards of the Jubilee Debt campaign and Make Poverty History and organised World Debt Day for Guildford. She has written about and worked with refugees. 

Pamela longs for sacramental ministry to be opened to all who have a priestly vocation and are deemed worthy, irrespective of gender or marital status. She believes now is the time for Catholics on the ground to call for the transformation of the unaccountable, hierarchical Catholic Church into a humbler, democratic institution, in tune with the simple teachings of Jesus and the loving power of the Holy Spirit.