THE ACP FULLY SUPPORTS THE BISHOPS’ ADOPTION OF THE SYNODAL PATHWAY
The Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) wishes to place on record our full support for the Irish Bishops’ adoption of the Synodal Pathway as the way forward for the Catholic Church in Ireland, as underlined in the recent representative meeting of the Irish Catholic Church in Athlone on June 18, 2022 and in their commitment to a national synod in a few years’ time.
For those who might be interested, this is a list of the fifteen main issues that were highlighted in the synthesis presented at the Athlone Synodal meeting on June 18. Along with listing the topics, I am also including a line or two from the presentation on each, to give some sense of the flavour of what was presented.
Abuse relates to so many areas — our understanding of sexuality and of power; the absence of women in decision making roles; transparency and accountability in governance; clericalism.
Yesterday’s meeting in Athlone, as part of the Synodal Path in the Irish Church, was by any standards extraordinary. I certainly never thought that I would live to be part of such a gathering, or to experience such a sense of change and new life and energy in our tired and battered Irish Catholic Church.
The purpose of the meeting was to report on the process that has been going on for some months in parishes, dioceses and among other interested groups.
