By Kevin Lavery, KWMU
St. Louis, MO. – Two Catholic groups will hold a conference Saturday in west St. Louis County on expanding the role of the laity in the church. They sharply disagree with a number of Vatican policies.
The Catholic Action Network for Social Justice and the Ecumenical Catholic Communion say the church is barring lay people from key decision making roles. The groups support the ordination of women and acceptance of gays and lesbians.
Spokeswoman Jenny Truax takes issue with the church's exclusion of those groups from the priesthood.
"It's not a good thing when you have a group of celibate priests making decisions about things like married life and family life," Truax said... "Things they don't have experience of, without any input from people who do have experience."
A spokesman for the St. Louis archdiocese had no formal comment, other than to say "we're always happy when Catholics get together" to discuss issues.