Ireland: concerned laity join forces

MARIA TERESA PONTARA PEDERIVA
Vatican Insider
July 8, 2012

It is no longer just priests pushing for reform in the Catholic Church, but the laity as well; this is apparently what has been happening in Ireland over the past few weeks according to The Irish Times.

Patsy Mc Garry reported that a group of lay people who got together at the end of May is planning to run a series of meetings across the whole country, between August and September, to be followed by a bigger meeting in late autumn.

The group was apparently formed after a meeting on 30 May at All Hallows College in Dublin, which dealt with issues relating to the full implementation of the Second Vatican Council and to the urgent need to introduce some reforms considered necessary for the Church in the Third Millennium. Its heads - 4 men and 4 women – are putting together a work platform comprising individuals and structured groups. The group is collaborating closely with ACP, the association of Catholic priests with which a meeting is due to be held soon (the ACP is in touch with German, Austrian and American priests who are appealing for the same things).

In the meantime, specific work groups will be set up to deal with and analyse the various issues that are to be raised, focusing in particular on the subject of faith and young people. The discussion drafts for this should be ready. Noel Mc Cann, one of the group’s heads stated: “A structured group needs to be created because too many people are experiencing the frustration of being lay people in the Church. We felt the need to do something: one thing we can do is to organise ourselves in such a way that we become more united and assertive. Then we will see where this takes us.”