News

ACI Resource Day Planned for March 2014

ACI Resource Day Planned for March 2014

We here at ACI are planning a Resource Day for March 2014 which will be aimed at ACI members involved in local reform groups or those considering embarking on the task of trying to establish a local reform group. The programme for the day will include a number of...

ACTA (England) News Update, August 2013 [27th Aug]

ACTA (England) News Update, August 2013 [27th Aug]

It strikes us that there may be a lot of Irish people with connections in England who might be interested in this latest News Update that has been kindly sent to usfrom the English Catholic reform group,’ A Call To Action’ ACTA. ACTA NEWS UPDATE – AUGUST 2013 A Call...

Treatment of Asylum Seekers: a letter from Nessan Vaughan

Treatment of Asylum Seekers: a letter from Nessan Vaughan

Here is a letter from an ACI member, Nessan Vaughan, which was originally published in the Irish Times. We thank Nessan for highlighting this social justice issue and forwarding the article for publication on our website.  In light of all the recent exposures of child...

Interested in Joining the ACI Steering Group?

Interested in Joining the ACI Steering Group?

Following Saturday's successful launch of ACI, it was accepted that three members of the current Steering Group (SG) would remain on the group while the other five members are standing down, having contributed to the development of the association over the past year....

ACI Goes Online

ACI Goes Online

In February 2013, following an extensive consultation process, a website designer and a separate website developer were appointed to set up the ACI website. The website went live on May 14th and hope to continue growing and developing. Members will soon be able to log...

Opening Our Arms to an Inclusive Church

Opening Our Arms to an Inclusive Church

The Association of Catholics in Ireland is open to all who share our views. ACI's motto is to follow Christ and to change the Catholic Church. We welcome all who have the ideas and commitment to help us work towards a genuine reform and renewal of our Church. Click...

ACI’s Campaign for Lumen Gentium 37

The Promise of Synodality

What we have experienced of synodality so far gives ACI real hope that a longstanding structural injustice in the church may at last be acknowledged and overcome.

As all Irish bishops well know, the 'co-responsibility' they urge lay people to share - as numbers and energies of clergy decline - has been sabotaged time and again by canonical rules that deny representational authority and continuity to parish pastoral councils.  ACI's 2019 call for the immediate honouring of Lumen Gentium Article 37 becomes more urgent by the day and is supported by the following documents - also presented to the ICBC in October 2019.

The Common Priesthood of the People of God and the Renewal of the Church
It was Catholic parents and victims of clerical abuse who taught Catholic Bishops to prioritise the safeguarding of children in the church

Jesus as Model for the Common Priesthood of the People of God
It was for challenging religious hypocrisy and injustice that Jesus was accused and crucified. He is therefore a model for the common priesthood of the laity and for the challenging of injustice - in society and within the church.

A Suggested Strategy for the Recovery of the Irish and Western Catholic Church
Recovery of the church depends upon acknowledgment of the indispensable role of the common priesthood of the lay people of God and the explicit abandonment by bishops and clergy of paternalism and clericalism - the expectation of deference from lay people rather than honesty and integrity.

For the full story of ACI's campaign for the honouring of Article 37 of Lumen Gentium, click here.

Prayer

"Come Holy Spirit, Renew Your wonders in this our day, as by a new Pentecost. Grant to Your Church that, being of one mind and steadfast in prayer with Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and following the lead of blessed Peter, it may advance the reign of our Divine Saviour, the reign of truth and justice, the reign of love and peace. Amen."

Saint Pope John XXIII, 1962 - In preparation for Vatican Council II, 1962-65.

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