ACP to hold regional asssemblies in Autumn

The Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) has confirmed that it will host two regional assemblies in the coming months as a follow on from their Towards an Assembly of the Irish Catholic Church, which was held in Dublin last May.

According to the ACP's website, Towards an Assembly for the West will take place at Galway's Clayton Hotel on Saturday October 6, while, Towards an Assembly for the South will take place the following week in the Common Inn on the Mallow Road in Cork City on Saturday October 13.

Both events are being organised on the same lines as the Towards an Assembly meeting that took place in Dublin on May 7 and which attracted an attendance of over 1,000 people, both lay and clerical.

According to the ACP, the assemblies are being held with the intention of promoting, “real dialogue, talking and listening, between those who are committed to the church, and wish to see a movement towards reform and renewal.” 

The ACP website says that there will be a number of speakers at each meeting, “painting the reality as they experience it, outlining a vision for the future, and trying to point some ways in which we can move forward,” with,“plenty of opportunity for contributions from the floor.” 

On each occasion the day will begin at 10:00am and will end not later than 4:00pm.

Both events are open to all.

Meanwhile ACP has also confirmed that its leadership recently met the steering group working towards setting up a new umbrella body for lay Catholics. 

The ACP said, “it was a very constructive meeting, at which we discussed the relationship between the ACP and this new association, the process by which this new body could be launched and what its aims and objectives might be.  The ACP assured the steering group that they will fully support this new initiative and would do everything possible to get it off the ground.  While they will be two separate associations, it is hoped that they can work closely together and have regular contact between the leadership teams.”

by Sean Ryan