Notice for ACP Members

Association of Catholic Priests

 23 January 2016

Dear Members,

The Association of Catholic Priests continues to work for reform in the Church as best we can. Despite the rapid decline in church attendance, and numbers of priests, as illustrated so clearly in the recent results of the survey of Dublin Archdiocese, the authorities of our church still refuse to enter into any form of worthwhile discussion with us on the future. But the presence of Pope Francis gives us all hope. We are grateful for the support and encouragement  we continue to get from both priests and lay people.

Two items:

  1. It is time for the annual subscription of €20.  (Some have already paid, at the AGM and elsewhere).  You can pay through the PayPal system on the ACP website, or send a cheque to:  Patricia Wade, Bullaun, Loughrea, Co. Galway.
  2. Since our foundation, the ACP has operated with a minimum of structure.  This was due to the fact that all the people involved in membership were busy with the rest of their lives, and our financial situation did not allow for taking on a paid employee. We know that the association has suffered because of this, with poor communications between leadership and members.

As a result we have decided to take on a part-time administrative secretary, and currently we have a number of applicants, and are arranging interviews.
We will need some help in covering the salary of this person. What we are looking for is people who would be willing to be a sponsor of this initiative by contributing €100.  A list of sponsors will be put on the website, unless people wish to remain anonymous.
Those who are willing to be sponsors are asked to please send their contribution directly to Fr. Brendan Hoban, Moygownagh, Ballina, Co. Mayo. The money contributed by sponsors will also be deemed to cover their membership fee.

N.B.

All Cheques should be made out to “The Association of Catholic Priests” and not in the name of any individual member.

Sincerely,

The Leadership Team:

Brendan Hoban, Gerry O’Connor, Seamus Ahearne, Sean McDonagh.

Similar Posts

A Dialogue of Hope, Critical Thinking for Critical Times

ACP News
6 Comments

Gerry O’Hanlon alerts us to a new publication that intends to spark a real and “constructive engagement and dialogue between secularists and religious believers, in order to imagine an alternative narrative” to one where “conventional economic models have failed, politics is fractured, what it means to be human is contested, and there is a Punch and Judy show of opposition between secularists and believers.”

ACP needs to address priests’ coalface issues

ACP News, Articles
10 Comments

Jimmy McPhillips, an ACP member in Clogher diocese, critiques the ACP and its website, and regrets that so few of priests’ real concerns are raised: frustration, absence of real leadership, low morale, depression and all the burdens of pastoral ministry. He suggests that ACP members meeting at local level in dioceses and Religious communities might help keep the leadership in touch with these core issues.

Maynooth Seminary Crisis: ACP Statement

ACP News
37 Comments

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

One Comment

  1. Good reflections, may God bless you

    Reply

Join the Discussion

Keep the following in mind when writing a comment

  • Your comment must include your full name, and email. (email will not be published). You may be contacted by email, and it is possible you might be requested to supply your postal address to verify your identity.
  • Be respectful. Do not attack the writer. Take on the idea, not the messenger. Comments containing vulgarities, personalised insults, slanders or accusations shall be deleted.
  • Keep to the point. Deliberate digressions don't aid the discussion.
  • Including multiple links or coding in your comment will increase the chances of it being automati cally marked as spam.
  • Posts that are merely links to other sites or lengthy quotes may not be published.
  • Brevity. Like homilies keep you comments as short as possible; continued repetitions of a point over various threads will not be published.
  • The decision to publish or not publish a comment is made by the site editor. It will not be possible to reply individually to those whose comments are not published.