St. Clare of Assisi (August 11) is the patron saint of sore eyes. In this case, an eyesore for his Eminence Archbishop Nienstedt…
The billboard proclaiming a September, 18th, 2010, “Synod of the Baptized” stands just off a major thoroughfare leading to the archdiocese-a mere 3 miles away.
The group responsible for purchasing the billboard ad is the Catholic Coalition for Church Reform. A local coalition of long-frustrated individuals belonging to various national dissident organizations now banded together. Their ultimate goal is to create greater schism within the church as they organize for what they’re calling the American Catholic Council to be held in Detroit, Michigan, June 10-12, 2011.
Archbishop Nienstedt has previously found it necessary to warn the Catholic faithful concerning CCCR and the organizations’ non-affiliation with the Archdiocese of Mpls/St.Paul or the universal Roman Catholic Church. He had this to say about the group back in August of 2009:
It has come to the attention of the Archdiocese that a group calling itself the Catholic Coalition for Church Reform (CCCR) is planning a 2010 ‘synod’ in the Archdiocese entitled, ‘Claiming Our Place at the Table’.
While the agenda for the proposed synod purports to be an exploration of the role of baptized Catholics within the institutional Church of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, it is not being conducted under the auspices of the Archdiocese, the universal Roman Catholic Church, or any entity or organization affiliated with the Archdiocese or the universal Roman Catholic Church.
The Archdiocese wishes it to be known that the Catholic Coalition for Church Reform, the 2010 synod, and individuals endorsing the same, are not agents or entities of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis or the Roman Catholic Church. Moreover, the Archdiocese wishes to lovingly caution those members of the faithful participating in the ‘work/study groups’ and intending to attend the synod of the potential that the issues on which CCCR will seek reform are magisterial teachings of the Church, and are therefore to be believed by divine and catholic faith. The Archdiocese also wishes to remind the faithful of its need to shun any contrary doctrines, and instead to embrace and retain, to safeguard reverently and expound faithfully, the doctrine of faith and morals proposed definitively by the magisterium of the Church.
That same year I posted this on CCCR and the American Catholic Council:
WHAT YOU CAN DO DEFEND YOUR FAITH AND PROTECT THE FAITH OF OTHERS FROM SUCH ERROR WITHIN YOUR OWN DIOCESE…
1. Don’t participate. Warn your family, friends, and fellow Catholics of the spiritual danger(s) involved in falling for propaganda (errors) coming from representatives of either the Catholic Coalition for Church Reform or the American Catholic Council within your diocese. Especially, be on watch for advertisements that promote “Synods of the Baptized” or invitations to meetings found within parish bulletins describing “Catholics coming together to dialogue on difficult Church issues…” This smokescreen tactic was used recently within a bulletin at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Minneapolis.
2. Contact your pastor in person or by e-mail and (respectfully) inform him about the dangers CCCR and the American Catholic Council represent within the Archdiocese.
3. Contact your bishop in person or by e-mail and (respectfully) inform him of the same.
4. Pray for all those suffering from a spirit of constantly taking umbrage: with Church, Church doctrine, and defiance of divinely instituted authority–
Enough said…
SOURCE: THE WILD REED
END OF POST
fratres.wordpress.com 
I don’t know much about this issue, but it sounds like the issue here is that a group of people are looking for a more democratic church, where laypeople have greater say. That interests me, because it seems like they may have an easier time finding somewhere else where they’re more welcome rather than trying to reform the Catholic Church as it exists today.
I agree Ed; thanks for your post. It seems to me that Jesus welcomed discussion to facilitate understanding. I think caution is warrented whenever we are “cautioned” that discussing or exploring our faith is in someway “illegitimate” or “dangerous”. God bless the open and faithful heart.