MISSION statement: Revised 2026

We are a group of Catholics, some of whom are ordained, brought together by our love of Christ’s Church and a desire to be part of the synodal renewal it needs.
 
Inspired by the legacy of the Second Vatican Council, and the call to Synodality for the Church of the third millennium, we want to contribute fully to the life of our Church so that it may be a more effective and inclusive sign of the Kingdom of God.
 
To enable this, we wish to promote listening, dialogue and receptivity within the Church, and with all people of good will, open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
 
Accordingly, we aim to facilitate opportunities to share experiences, practices and insights to discern our hopes and aims for the Church in the world today.

THEOLOGY statement:

ACTA is a movement built from below by clergy and laity alike in every diocese in England and Wales. It exists to give those people an effective voice. It is an instrument to establish and promote space for a trusting dialogue within a hierarchically structured people’s Church.
 
ACTA believes that the reforms of the Second Vatican Council are the only way forward for mission to modern society. It is not a small chapel of selected followers; it believes in the Church as a “big tent”, with open doors. As a free and representative association of believers, it seeks to liberate the expertise in the ranks, so as to bring added energy and witness to the Church in the world.

Fr Brian D'Arcy - Turbulent Priest

Written by: Alex Walker

NORTHERN IRELAND

29 October 2012 Last updated at 09:53
Fr Brian D'Arcy asks: 'Will I still be allowed to stay a priest?'
Father Brian D'Arcy, one of Ireland's best known priests, is pondering his future.

Read more: Fr Brian D'Arcy - Turbulent Priest

Assoc of Catholic Priests and Irish Bishops

Written by: Alex Walker
 
This makes sobering reading - note also the 15 readers' responses. We are nowhere near as strong yet. But we must surely start reaching out to try and engage our own bishops whereover possible. I hope that all the bishops (and our nuncio) will be invited to our national meetings in future - and local bishops to any regional ones. They need to listen before it's too late. And if any are willing to engage with us, we need to listen to them.

Read more: Assoc of Catholic Priests and Irish Bishops

A Call To Action is Four Years Old

Written by: Alex Walker

ACTA was born in June 2012 when a group of seven priests wrote a letter to The Tablet calling for greater openness and discussion in the Church.  The group will celebrate its 4th Annual Conference on 26th November.  What is ACTA and what is it trying to achieve? 

Read >>> ACTA - A Call to Action is Four Years Old

To have and to hold and to give

Written by: Chris McDonnell

Chris McDonnell CT 2nd September 2016 To have and to hold and to give

Two weeks ago I wrote a few words about a good man, Bishop Edward Daly who went to the Lord on August 8th. In recent days there has been an appreciation of his life published on the website of the Association of Catholic Priests, ACP, the forum of Irish priests that has been a voice for reform within the Irish Church. Written by Fr. Paddy O’Kane, who knew Edward Daly, his words reflect on the many facets of his life, a well-rounded man in his appreciation of others.

Read more: To have and to hold and to give

Pope Francis Among the Wolves

Marco Politi FREE Lecture Tour

Written by: Alex Walker

Where are we going with Pope Francis? That’s the question for ACTA’s annual conference. If you can, grab the chance to hear a top observer of the Vatican and the Catholic Church, Marco Politi, on the same subject. During his visit to the UK from 12 to 14 October, and then in Ireland, Politi will illuminate Pope Francis’s renewal polices and the opposition to them, along the lines of his latest book, Pope Francis Among the Wolves. He wants to know what British Catholics think, and there will be discussion after each lecture.

For more than 40 years, Politi has been commenting from Rome on the struggle to update the Catholic Church. As well as studying Pope Francis, he has followed Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI on more than 80 trips around the world, and has regularly contributed to the BBC, CNN and ABC.

The book he wrote with Carl Bernstein, His Holiness, was an international best seller.

He believes there is a battle going on for the soul of the Catholic Church, in which we are all involved, and where there is no certainty that Pope Francis will win. Come to hear the insights and analysis of a journalist and writer on the inside track.

John Wilkins

Read more: Marco Politi FREE Lecture Tour

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