IRELAND
Irish Times
Ronan McGreevy
Some 150 people turned up this morning to the launch of a new lay organisation for Irish Catholics.
The Association of Catholics in Ireland (ACI), a new group for Irish Catholics committed to reform and renewal in the Church, was formally launched today having been in the offing for a year.
The organisation aims to provide a voice for lay Catholics in the same way that the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) does for the clergy.
The idea of it for came from the ACP and from organiser Noel McCann who has spent the last year setting up a steering committee and website.
Mr McCann said there was a realisation among many Catholics that the Church was in crisis and that the pews on Sundays were emptying of young people.
He said lay people had “very good reasons not to be happy” but he was hopeful that Pope Francis could signal a different approach which would involve the laity in the way envisaged by Vatican II.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.