ABOUT 200 people have attended a meeting to discuss the formation of an umbrella group to represent lay people interested in supporting renewal and reform in the Catholic Church.
Organiser Noel McCann said the meeting, which was held in All Hallows College in Drumcondra in Dublin last night, explored the establishment of an “umbrella organisation” which lay groups and individuals could affiliate with.
“There is a need for such an organisation because people are scattered around the country feeling the frustrations that are part and parcel of being a Catholic today as a lay person, and you have to do something about it. One way of doing that is to get organised, to bring greater cohesion and focus . . . to the agenda and see where we go from there,” Mr McCann said ahead of last night’s meeting.
He said he felt the majority of those attending were practising Catholics who were “frustrated by their exclusion from any form of dialogue or input to what happens”. “We’re not disaffected. We’re people on the inside doing what we can to support the church. We want to have our say, we want to be involved, we want dialogue,” he said.
Another organiser, Sam Andrews, said those who came to last night’s meeting did so “because we see a value to our faith and we see that if something is not done to portray the vision that Christ taught, well it’s just going to fall away and disappear – so it’s putting our concern into action”.
Valerie Warren said she had gone having attended the Toward an Assembly of the Catholic Church event, which saw over 1,000 Catholic laity gather in Dublin earlier this month, which she said had resonated with her.
“I would say everybody who attended is in their own way trying to make the little changes, is trying to bring about some sense of involvement. The sense that people are excluded is what most people find difficult and the sense that we’re not important enough – that’s what it feels like.
“People feel they have a part to play, they know they have a part to play. I suppose they want to have a voice in some way. They want to feel . . . that other voices are being listened to, other than the institutional voices,” she added.
Andy Burke said he was attending the meeting to find out what others were doing in order to establish a “clearing house” for ideas.