Past Events

ACI Belfast: catholic conversations: Sat 23rd May 2015

ACI Belfast: catholic conversations: Sat 23rd May 2015

by | May 20, 2015 |

‘What is the Emerging Church?’ Video and Conversation Venue: Shalom House, 12 Cliftonville Road, Belfast, BT14 6JX Date: Saturday 23rd May 2015 Time: 10-30am until 2-00pm. Cost: A voluntary donation on the day to cover expenses would be appreciated Registration:  It...

WAC event with Fr Gabriel Daly – Mon 9th Nov 2015

“Taking a Chance on God”

by | May 11, 2015 |

Film about the life of former Jesuit Fr John McNeill:  "Taking a Chance on God" (55 minutes) with an introduction by the film's Director, Irishman Brendan Fay.  John McNeill was a Jesuit Priest from 1959 to 1987 when he was forced to leave when he came out as an...

Minutes of ACI North Wicklow Meeting 28th October 2015

ACI North Wicklow Meeting 8th April 2015

by | May 1, 2015 |

We agreed to use our copies of the Minutes of ACI National 21st March to choose from the already highlighted themes those we considered as most urgently calling us to further elucidation and possible action steps. Referendum on Same Sex Marriage One person drew our...

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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