IRELAND
Irish Times
PATSY McGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent
A new Catholic lay organisation agreed a “statement of objectives” at its first general meeting at the weekend, committing it “to the pursuit of a reform and renewal agenda in the Irish Catholic Church based on the letter and the spirit of Vatican II”.
About 350 people attended the meeting of the Association of Catholics in Ireland (ACI), which also agreed to set up a website and governance structures, with elections to be held at an agm next year, when there will be a formal launch and a recruitment campaign.
In the interim a steering committee set up in Dublin last May will prepare the organisation’s next steps. It was agreed the ACI would maintain its close relationship with the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP).
Its statement of objectives also said the ACI believed “the spirit is present in the voices of all the baptised” and in “the consequent right of all the baptised to have their voices heard in the formation of church teaching and to participate fully in the life of the church, including decision-making” at all levels.
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