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Dear Friends,
One month has elapsed since my last message to you. In that
time our petition has grown by 10 more signatures. That is
good, but sadly it does not promise well for reaching our
target of 1000 by Ash Wednesday. It is now at 254. However it
is still possible!
The urgency of our campaign was highlighted in the Tablet (a
highly respected Catholic weekly in the UK) on 12 January. On
page 32 it reported on a survey conducted by the Movement for
Married Clergy. This very professionally conducted survey
showed that nearly half of the 4,149 priests in England and
Wales are older than 70! The percentage of priests under 70 is
projected to fall even further over the next ten years. I
believe that this situation is replicated all over the world,
with the possible exception of Asia. I am sure you can work
out for yourself the impact that this will have on your parish
and mine and also on the Church that we love.
Please, please push for more people to sign the petition.
By the way; if you wish to know more about the Movement for
Married Clergy their web page is: www.marriedclergy.co.uk
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