The Annual General Meeting of the Association of Catholic Priests
The Annual General Meeting of the Association of Catholic Priests
The Association of Catholic Priests will hold its AGM at Hodson Bay Hotel, Athlone
on October 1 from 2.00pm to 5.00pm.
This year the theme is: The vocations crisis: will ‘clustering’ work?
This year’s theme was chosen because it is of compelling interest to the Catholic Church in Ireland and of particular interest to an ageing and diminishing Irish priesthood. Everyone accepts – Pope Francis, the Irish bishops, priests, religious and people – that the vocations situation is already critical and that it will, in a short time, become catastrophic. It is imperative that, rather than wringing our hands in frustration, that realistic and workable proposals around priesthood be discussed with a view to sustaining our parish faith-communities.
The AGM agenda is as follows:
1. The vocations crisis: will ‘clustering’ work?
Chair: John Hughes OSA: Introduction
Speakers :
Denis Crosby – the viri probati option;
Liamy McNally – re-connecting with ‘married’ priests;
Brendan Hoban – an historical perspective
Gerry O’Hanlon, SJ – a theological perspective.
(Inputs by the speakers will be of 10 minutes duration.)
Open Forum : Comment, opinion, assessment, conclusion.
2. Review of the year : Seamus Ahearne, OSA
Open Forum : Where do we go from here?
3. Business : Gerry O’Connor, C.Ss.R.
(i) Leadership
(ii) Membership
(ii) Finances