Agenda: Annual General Meeting: Wednesday, 16 November 2016, 2.00 to 5.00 p.m. Hodson Bay Hotel, Athlone
Notice of AGM
ACP News
The ‘new’ missal; there is an alternative: Item for Agenda of AGM
To highlight the immediate availability of an alternative to the present ‘new missal’ the prayers and prefaces for the seasons of Advent and Christmas and the Order of Mass from the 1998 Missal will be made available at the AGM of the Association of Catholic priests.
Prayers from the 1998 ICEL Missal are also made available on a weekly basis in the liturgy section of this website; see the Presider’s Page of the Liturgy Preparation section.
Bishops’ Letter to the Association of Catholic Priests: Item for Agenda of AGM
Last May an ACP delegation raised some serious and urgent issues about the Irish Church with representatives of the Irish Bishops. We also looked for a process of continual dialogue in order to meet the challenges facing us.
A response was received from Ray Browne, bishop of Kerry.
Chicago conference of International Catholic Priest Movements and Reform Groups
Press statement from the Chicago conference of International Catholic Priest Movements and Reform Groups.
3rd International Conference of Church Reform Network; Chicago, October 2016
Tony Flannery reports from Chicago on the recent 3rd International Conference of Church Reform Network.
” A wide range of issues were discussed and worked on. The one I myself was most involved with had to do with the need for some type of Declaration of Rights in the Church. We believe that at all levels in the Church there is a lack of accountability in the exercise of authority, and little or no means of appeal or redress. A group, of which I am a member, was set up to work on this over the next year.”
Appointment of Administrative Secretary
The Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) is pleased to announce the appointment of Liamy MacNally, as its first Administrative Secretary.
The election of bishops – ACP Statement
“The ACP believes that, at this most critical juncture for the Catholic Church in Ireland, the policies being pursued by Archbishop Browne in the choice of bishops are, in the main, inadequate to the needs of our time, at odds with the expectations of people and priests and out of sync with the new church dispensation, ushered in by the election of Pope Francis over three years ago and the changed perspective of his renewed commitment to the spirit of the Second Vatican Council.”
Statement on Seminary Reform
“This critical time is an opportunity for the Church to consider both a new and dynamic vision of priesthood and a seminary preparation in tune with present needs.”
Report on a recent meeting of the Leadership of the ACP
Report on a recent meeting of the Leadership of the ACP.
Sharing a vision
Jeannine Gramick writes in the NCR about meeting old friends at the annual conference of the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests in Chicago.
“I had found them 40 years later — concerned about a Vatican II vision of church and yearning for a community with the same hopes and dreams for justice and peace. They seemed to have found this vision in Pope Francis and to have realized community in a group called the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests.”
Is there any learning for ourselves to be gleaned from the experience of our U.S. friends in AUSCP?
Maynooth Seminary Crisis: ACP Statement
The ACP have issued a statement on the controversy afflicting Maynooth at present.
“While it is important that the highest standards prevail in Maynooth, the response to whatever the crisis is – real or imaginary – demands more than moving a few students to Rome and offering a few unconvincing reasons for the decision.”
UPDATED with Brendan Hoban interview on Morning Ireland, 03/08/2016
International Conference of Reform Movements in Chicago
Tony Flannery reports on the the third International Conference of Reform Movements which is scheduled for Chicago next October.
“we aim to enter into deep dialogue, understanding our similarities and our differences, enjoying our diversity and finding common ground leading to common action. In this way we hope to strengthen our commitment, and energise our work, for Church reform.”
Guilty until proven Innocent
Sarah Mac Donald writing in this week’s Tablet describes the awful ordeal of Fr Tim Hazelwood who had an anonymous false allegation made against him and who then was left to prove his own innocence while feeling totally abandoned by official church and fobbed off by the National Safeguarding Board.
“I was left feeling very alone”, he says. “I had to fight my accuser but I also had to fight the Church, because it didn’t help in any way.”
This article raises very disturbing questions for church authorities in how they deal with anonymous allegations, questions that should prevent them from sleeping easily until they have been fully resolved.
Robert Dore, solicitor, describes the Church’s protocols on anonymous allegations as “wrong” and “wholly inappropriate”.
Bishops meet with Association of Catholic Priests
Report on a meeting between the Association of Catholic Priests and representatives of the Irish Episcopal Conference – Council for the Clergy – in the Columba Centre in Maynooth on Thursday, May 19, 2016
ACP meeting with bishops next week
ACP meeting with bishops next week
la Repubblica – “Basta processi segreti’ – “A New Process for the Church and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith”
International Coverage for Letter about “A New Process for the Church and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith”.
The story has got a full page in la Repubblica, the main Italian newspaper.
Appointment of ACP Administrative Secretary
ACP appoint Administrative Secretary
Bishops to meet with ACP
Following the Annual General Meeting of the ACP some concerns of members, as expressed in resolutions passed at the meeting, were communicated on 01 December 2015 by letter to the bishops’ conference.
On 05 April 2016 a response was received and the text of their letter is attached.
The proposed meeting is a welcome development that one hopes will not be just a ‘once off’ but will lead to what Pope Francis says he always advises, “Dialogue, dialogue, dialogue!”
Rejoice in difference, Struggle against Division
Seamus Ahearne shares two personal letters he wrote to the Papal Nuncio to Ireland, Archbishop Charles Brown, about the nuncio’s refusal to accept an invitation from the ACP to meet with us.
“You will meet the formal church in your work. People will dress up. All the Liturgies will be done beautifully. You will be invited to a celebrating Church. I would suggest that the church you need to meet is the one on the ground; the informal one; the broken one; the hurting one; the one where most people have walked away; the one where lives are messed up totally.”
“Your job is much too important for you to opt out of hearing the views of a very serious and passionate group – the ACP. How can you shape the Church in Ireland if you are dismissive of the experience of those who know the scene best?”
Notice for ACP Members
Letter from the leadership team to all members.
Reminder to pay membership fees if not already done and an appeal for sponsors!
Please note that all Cheques should be made out to “The Association of Catholic Priests” and not in the name of any individual member.
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