Your Holiness The Honorable Pope Benedict XVI,

As conscientious members of the People of God, and as members of

International Movement We Are Church, a reform movement within the Roman

Catholic Church, we greet you and extend our prayers for God's blessings

upon you as you exercise your many important duties during a time of great

historic change in our world.

The Church Referendum of 1995, which was signed by several million people,

and demonstrably supported by many more Catholics, made known to the pastors

of the church the needs of the Christian faithful. We also made manifest

their opinions on matters that pertain to the good of the Church.

This action flowed out of church law contained in the Codex Juris Canonici

Can. 212§ 2 and 3. We also made our opinions known to the rest of the

Christian faithful, as is our right and duty.

We did so out of our deep and abiding love and concern for the wellbeing of

the entire Church. As Professor P. Bernard Häring, a signer of the

Referendum stated: "We Are Church has an indispensable duty to courageously

do our share in the always-needed reform [of the Church]. We do not shirk

our common duty. We want to work with church officials, not against them. We

express criticism and we accept criticism, because we believe in the Spirit

of distinction. We are journeying together with the One "who is the Way,

the Truth, and the Life."

To celebrate the tenth anniversary since the church referendum was launched

in Austria, representatives of the International Movement We Are Church, now

a worldwide organization, met in Innsbruck/Austria at the end of June. There

we concluded that during the past 10 years, neither our church leaders in

Rome nor most of the bishops in the various countries have yet adequately

addressed the growing problems resulting from the current structures of the

Roman Catholic church, which have caused profound suffering for countless

faithful Christians all over the world.

As we are convinced that the charisms of our Church are very important to

you, and because we wish to support our bishops in their desire to take

appropriate and courageous measures to meet the huge pastoral needs of the

faithful, we cordially ask you for a personal meeting to launch an open,

broad, constructive, and mutual dialogue. For it is only if we all, church

leaders and the People of God, work together - jointly and constructively in

a true spirit of cooperation - can the challenges of the future be dealt

with successfully.

Christian Weisner,

for the Internacional Movement We Are Church