Campaigners for a progressive Catholic era spelled out their agenda in Limerick last month where they raised a range of issues from the place of women in the Church, to the environment and evangelisation. Common to them all was a growing optimism A buoyant atmosphere pervaded the closing day of the four-day gathering of international Catholic reform leaders in Limerick, as the group of 40 declared in their concluding statement: “The election of Pope Francis has begun a new era in Catholicism.”The closed-doors conference saw participants from Ireland, the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, India, Austria, Switzerland and elsewhere focus on issues affecting the life of the Church, such as governance, greater accountability of hierarchies, the full participation of Cathol