| Description | The papers of Catholics for a Changing Church and its predecessor, the Catholic Renewal Movement, notably executive committee papers and administrative papers, covering a range of different subjects pertaining to the management of the organisation; membership records including correspondence and a card index of members; papers highlighting the organisation's links with various other religious groups; subject files, including Humane Vitae, family planning, human rights, and the role of women; conferences organised by the Catholic Renewal Movement/Catholics for a Changing Church and other bodies; and various publications (leaflets, journals and books). |
| Admin_History | The Catholic Renewal Movement was established in January 1969 with the principal aim of opposing Humane Vitae, a papal encyclical issued by Pope Paul VI outlining the Catholic Church's position on the issue of birth control. Its formation in the late 1960s was a response to the perceived failure of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) in reforming the Catholic Church, as well as a reflection of the liberalisation of sexual relations and increasing opposition to traditional authority in the wider society generally. In its early days, the Catholic Renewal Movement was undoubtedly a radical organisation within the Catholic Church. The London Ad-Hoc Group (the precursor to the Catholic Renewal Movement) used its influence to house priests suspended and evicted from their homes for opposing the papal encyclical. Pray-insand teach-inswere organised in various towns, including Twickenham, Nottingham, Leatherhead and Leicester, to publicise its cause. The aims of this group were to open up discussion so that a genuine theology of marriage will be built up through the experience of Catholic couples, and in a more general sense to bring Vatican II off paper into practice. Within a year, the movement had attracted 2000 followers, of whom 10% were estimated to be clergy. The Catholic Renewal Movement developed into a movement whose broad aim was to challenge Church authority generally, leading it to campaign on a number of different fronts from the 1970s to the present day, notably the right of the laity in the running of the Church, limitations on papal authority, the need to accept guidance by the Holy Spirit rather than the Pope, women's ministry in the Church, clerical celibacy, family planning, and human rights issues. The Catholic Renewal Movement also campaigned in the field of education, publishing Anthony Spencer's report The Future of Catholic Education in England and Walesin 1971. After the National Pastoral Congress in 1980, however, it became increasingly more marginalised within the Church and, in November 1993, the organisation changed its name to Catholics for a Changing Church to avoid confusion with the Charismatic Renewal Movement. The Catholics for a Changing Church is still in existence today, arranging annual conferences and publicising its views through its website and journal, RENEW. |