Limerick Diocesan meeting of ACP

A meeting of the Association took place for Limerick Diocese on Feb. 8th.  Twenty one priests attended, and apologies came from four more.
A wide-ranging discussion took place.  The following is a summary of some of the main issues discussed.
The group that met today gave me permission to report back what was an unstructured discussion.  There was alot of contribution on the sacraments of initiations, with a very strong view expressed by many that the time has come for the sacraments of First Holy Communion and Confirmation (as opposed to the catechetical preparation for them) to be removed from schools and taken into parish, not the parish the children go to school in, but the parish the family practice in.  For now, unless there are political developments to reduce the number of Catholic schools. we should continue to work with and support the excellent work done by the teachers in this area. One priest said any statement the association may make in relation to this area should be very clearly seen to support and encourage and thank the good work being done by the teachers.
Priests spoke of how demoralising the celebration of baptisms have become, “I just don’t want to do it anymore”.
There was some discussion on the issue of the new translation, but some felt this is not that big an issue as in reality it is going to be irrelevant to the many who no longer practice, and that in fact evangilisation should be our foucs. However a number expressed that the new translation was a mistake.
The need for the association to highlight continually the changed landscape that lies ahead for priestless parishes and the need to get the faithful to more fully appreciate this and start putting practical things in place to enpower them for the future, was also discussed.
One priest observed what he felt was an important ommission from the aims of the association, namely the renewal of priest in their own spirituality, not just their morale.  He would like to see this as an expressed part of the associations objectives.
The next meeting is on Tuesday, April 12th.

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This is a very interesting and encouraging development in Clogher.  As you can see from the report, they are really facing the issues and problems that all of us as priests are confronted with. We, the leadership, would love if other dioceses could maybe take a lead from this, and begin to organise similar type meetings. I am aware that such discussion is probably done best at local level, but if anyone could come up with how we might pursue these agendas at a national level we would love to hear from them.  The organiser of the ACP in Clogher is Jimmy McPhillips.  I am sure Jimmy would be more than happy to give advice to any other group wishing to follow their lead.

3rd International Conference of Church Reform Network; Chicago, October 2016

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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.”

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  1. Derek Reeve says:

    As a member of the Executive Committee of Catholics for a Changing Church here in England, I am deeply interested in what the ACP is doing. I am hoping that we may be able to advertise a meeting for priests over here to set up something similar to your own organisation and will be looking to the Irish Association for some guidance when we do this. Our next Committee meeting is March 6th. when we shall be discussing this.
    I am, incidentally, a retired parish priest, now 80 years of age but still keen to see Vatican II being implemented.

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