"One man, two vocations is perfectly possible"
- Written by: Chris McDonnell
Founded in Britain in the 1970s, the Movement for a Married Clergy is closing down its work on Easter Sunday and handing over the reins to a new synodal group, explains its secretary.
I return this Easter to an issue that refuses to hide its face, the continuing fall in the number of priests serving our parishes. We should be considering this question as a matter of some urgency if we are to maintain our present diocesan structures at anywhere near their present level, let alone seek to become a missionary Church.
A number of factors might be considered that have given rise to our present predicament. The age profile of serving priests continues to rise. Parishes with more than one priest are rare so the return alone to an empty house is uninviting. Above all, the question of a compulsorily celibate clergy remains with us. How often do our bishops face the unenviable task of replacing a priest who, through age or infirmity, can no longer continue with his duties? Or a younger man who has fallen in love and is unable to sustain his vocation?
Authority and the Church - Oscott College
- Written by: Alex Walker
This one-day Symposium is an opportunity to explore the role of authority in the Church, especially in light of developments in synodality and a post-modern culture. A particular focus will be the relationship between Revelation and the Papacy.
There is a link to register via Eventbrite on our homepage www.oscott.net .
Download: AUTHORITY AND THE CHURCH
Believing, not Belonging Research
- Written by: Frank Callus
The ACTA National Conference in 2018 was addressed by Dr Anna Abrams, of the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology on the subject of Ecclesial Ethics.
Last summer Bishop Alan Williams SM, the Bishop of Brentwood, invited Catholics who no longer regularly come to church to get in touch. Bishop Alan wanted to seriously listen to their stories and experiences to understand why so many Catholics no longer feel as though they belong in the Church.
The results of that research, carried out in partnership with the Margaret Beaufort Institute, have now been published.
Dr Liam Hayes, Director of The Centre for Ecclesial Ethics at the Margaret Beaufort Institute, Cambridge, undertook the research on Bishop Alan’s behalf. He says: “Our research revealed that many of the 80% of baptised Catholics who no longer go to Church do not feel welcome, appreciated or even visible, for they experience a Church in which they no longer see their face, hear their voice or recognise their story in too many of the church’s ethical teachings and its wider praxis.
Believing, not Belonging, he says, presents a moving and challenging insight into how our Church and the Covid-19 pandemic have contributed to a movement away from a regular practice of faith for many Catholics and offers our Church a living repository of wisdom that might enrich and inform our ongoing journey of renewal in the diocese.
The research report can be read here:
Synthesis Report Online Zoom Meetings
- Written by: Frank Callus
XVI ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY
OF THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS
First Session
(4-29 October 2023)
Discussions based on key elements of the
A Synodal Church in Mission - Synthesis Report
ACTA will be holding three separate sessions to discuss some of the key issues in the Synthesis Report published at the end of the First Session of the Synod. The areas chosen for discussion relate to some of the critical issues affecting the laity and their role in the future of the Church.
Members will be involved in discussions which will form part of the response that ACTA makes to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and the Vatican.
The sessions will be delivered via Zoom on three consecutive Sundays
from 10-24 March 2024.
The six areas chosen for discussion include:
Part 1 Chap 1 – Synodality: Experience and Understanding
Part 1 Chap 4 - People in Poverty, Protagonists of the Church's Journey
Part 11 Chap 8 - Church is Mission
Part 11 Chap 9 - Women in the Life and Mission of the Church
Part 111 Chap 16 - Towards a Listening and Accompanying Church
Part 111 Chap 17 - Mission in the Digital Environment
While members will look at specific questions there are significant
elements within other chapters. For example Chap 4 considers the
People in Poverty while Chap 16 considers the need for accompaniment
including the poor and marginalised. Chapter 8 considers the missional
nature of the Church but Chap 18 expounds on how this is to be
reflected in the structures of the Church. Some chapters refer to
particular constituents [ the role of women] while other sections consider
the needs for improved formation to undertake key ministries.
Austin Ivereigh - Synodal Reflections
- Written by: Alex Walker
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