Over 400 People Attend Acp Meeting in Galway

Association of Catholic Priests
October 8, 2012

http://www.associationofcatholicpriests.ie/2012/10/press-statement-from-the-acp-after-the-meeting-in-galway-oct-6th/

The Association of Catholic Priests held a meeting entitled ‘Towards and Assembly for the West’ in the Clayton Hotel Galway on Saturday 6th Oct.

Four hundred people attended. The energy and enthusiasm of the gathering was equal to what we experienced at the Regency Hotel last May.

The speakers, both from the platform and the floor, spoke about their commitment to their faith and to the Church, but stressed over and over again that it is our Church; they want to belong, to be involved, and to be regarded as equals in the Church, as was envisioned by the Second Vatican Council.

Considerable disappointment was expressed at the absence of any bishop, even though all the bishops of the west had been invited. It was the strong feeling of the meeting that the bishops be asked to engage actively with the energy and enthusiasm that is being unleashed in the Church as a result of the regional gatherings being organised by the ACP, and the emergence of the Association of Catholics of Ireland (ACI)

There was also a strong sense that time is short; there is a window of opportunity now to secure the future of the faith in Ireland. But it will not be there for much longer. Local churches have died out in the past and it is important that we now work together to ensure that the Irish Catholic Church not only survives but flourishes.