Cathal BarryA group of lay Catholics seeking liberal reform in the Church in Ireland have called on the hierarchy to consider holding a national assembly.
Members of the Association of Catholics in Ireland (ACI) made the proposal at a meeting with Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin recently.
Whether Archbishop Martin supports such an assembly is unknown. A spokesperson for the archbishop was unable to provide The Irish Catholic with a response at the time of going to print.
However, a statement from the ACI said Archbishop Martin “offered his encouragement to those involved in finding remedies at grassroots level”.
ACI Committee member Noel McCann told this newspaper that there is a “real need for an assessment of where the Church is at the present moment and where are we going”.
Citing issues such as the shortage of priests, clustering of parishes and the involvement of young people, Mr McCann insisted there was “a need to look at how to ensure the survival of the Church going forward and in particular, what sort of Church we are going to leave to future generations”.
“It’s a very broad suggestion that would need a lot of work in deciding what form it would take and how it would be structured. It couldn’t be rushed, there would be a long lead in period of time in preparation for it.
“It might be something that could re-energise people and give people focus, something to work towards,” he said.