Letter to ACP members from the ACP Leadership

Dear Member,

After the enforced lull in our activities due to the COVID pandemic over the past few years and buoyed by the success of our last AGM, the good news is that the ACP is very much back in business representing our members, supporting priests – members and non-members – who are in particular need of our help and responding to the issues and the challenges facing our Church.

We hope you will continue to be part of what we believe is an important and necessary contribution to the Church in Ireland today. As Fr Richard Rohr wrote recently there is ‘a wholeness and an integrity’ in our Church when ‘the priestly and prophetic strains’ come together – the first, honouring the tradition, the second holding it in creative tension.

In our 13 years of existence, we have (we believe) walked that road and are intent on persevering with the journey, despite whatever difficulties cross our path.

As you know, we have no other source of income to fund our association, apart from our members and the force of this letter is that after the necessarily lean COVID years, we need to get our finances back in order if we are to meet the challenges we face, financial and otherwise.

Members contribute in different ways – annual subscriptions collected from individual members at diocesan level, bank transfers and individual gifts, as well as well as annual gifts from religious orders. While some contributions continued during COVID, the difficult truth is that, overall, our finances were hit very hard from 2020 to 2022.

It is understandable that during the years 2020, 2021 and 2022 – and particularly when our main collection point, the AGM, was not operating effectively – that opportunities for direct contact with members were few and that finances would suffer.

Our appeal now is to members who might like to help us get back on financial track by updating their accounts with us in so far as that is possible, given their circumstances. Or, if some could afford to make an added contribution, it would help us greatly in the present circumstances. But, of course, any and every contribution will be greatly and gratefully appreciated.

The annual contribution is €30 and if members can afford it we would welcome anything extra in lieu of the Covid years. A sincere thank you to all members who have already renewed their membership.

Thanking you again for your generous support of the ACP over the years.

Tim Hazelwood, Roy Donovan, Gerry O’Connor, John Collins

ACP Leadership Team                                                         

Members can renew by clicking on this link:

Alternatively cheques, payable to the Association of Catholic Priests, may be forward to;

Liamy Mac Nally

ACP Admin Secretary

Sheeaune

Westport

Mayo

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