AMERICAN CATHOLIC COUNCIL
Spring 2009

Introduction.
The planning group that now calls itself American Catholic Council has been in formation for more than a year.  The initial core group (VOTF national members, enhanced very early with representatives of CTA, ARCC, Corpus, WOC and Future Church) attempted to identify potential planners representing every aspect of Catholic life.  Several qualification filters were tried and rejected.  Most notably, a “laity only” council was rejected.  Ultimately, the only pre-requisites to “membership” and “participation” were (1) commitment to the principles of Vatican II (i.e. the rights and responsibilities of all the baptized) and (2) a willingness to participate in the process.*  This decision was made over the course of several conference calls and at a face to face in Washington in the fall of 2008.

A preliminary theme/mission was also identified—the need to reform institutional-governance structure of the Church—the major stumbling block for the implementation of the principles of the 1976 Call to Action and the root cause of many of the other dysfunctions and issues in the Church which are being addressed by reform groups (many of whom became the constituents of ACC).

At its in person meeting in March 2009, the Planning Committee adopted a policy on “Membership and Communications” and indicated that such policy should be placed on the website.

Expansion of ACC and the Declaration.
A second call went out and many others joined—so that we had more than 55 names on the listserv—some observers; others, very active.  This group worked for several months on the Declaration—an expanded mission statement to state who we are and what we are about.  We ultimately opted for a Declaration which noted the Signs of the Times, committed to radical inclusivity, and called for a national event in 2011 (preceded by numerous local and regional level “listening sessions”—to confirm (or alter) the theme and to collect the voices of the Church.  We decided not to cast ourselves as victims, but to use the Declaration as a positive call to all the baptized.

At the March meeting, it was determined to reach out again to achieve desired inclusivity, the Declaration was affirmed, and a general theme for the Council was refined: the formation of an American Catholic Bill of Rights—with special focus on conscience and social justice obligations.

Inclusivity
Those involved from the beginning have been acutely aware that our statement of inclusivity has not been reflected in the reality of participation.  Approaches to others have not produced an ACC planning committee which is representative of many potential constituencies.  However, we have attracted representatives of women’s groups and others involved in specific reform agendas such as optional celibacy, women’s ordination, GLT, peace activism, protection of children from abuse—and organizations with broader agendas such as ARCC, VOTF, CTA and FutureChurch.  This must remain an ongoing process—as we ask ourselves regularly: who else should be working with us and sharing ideas with us?

ACC After the National Meeting
At its March meeting, it was determined that ACC would look to its various constituent partners to effectuate the principles determined by the process leading to and at the National Council.  ACC will not form a hierarchy—nor does it intend to continue as an independent force for reform—except in the very limited role of promoting the local and regional process, staging periodic national meetings, and strengthening the efforts of our constituent partners.

Another Decision Point?
We are now at another “flex point” in our process.  We need to reach out again to widen the participation (and we have created a committee structure which will permit this while avoiding the practical difficulties of having 100s of “planners”).  We need to develop our theme and “test” it in local and regional meetings—collecting views, comments, and stories from all of those who wish to participate.  We also need to determine the physical details of our national meeting (including availability of space and speakers—and whether there is sufficient time to stage such an important event in the spring of 2011)—or whether we should provide more time for process and schedule a 2012 event (on the anniversary of the first meetings of the Second Vatican Council.   We need to plan and organize local and regional meetings.  We need to revisit our process to ensure that it accurately models our commitment while simultaneously providing us forward motion and periodic “course correction.”  ACC—the planning committee itself and the various subcommittees are not closed.  The implications of the theme for the reflection of the missions of various constituencies at the Council will be reviewed continuously.

“Decisions”—Tentative or Otherwise.
Our name, corporate structure, and tax status have been effectuated.  We are ready to go.  We are an IRS Section 501(c)(3) organization and we are beginning to receive our first contributions—two Foundation grants of $10,000 each.  By the end of April we intend to have mechanisms to accept contributions by mail and/or email—and regular deduction contributions from those who so desire.

We have committed to radical inclusivity—and as our Declaration states, a belief that we are co-responsible for the state of our Church because we have not demanded the changes required.  Our commitment has not been realized in practice.  We will therefore affirmatively seek out individuals to widen our scope.

We are planning a series of local and regional meetings to prepare for the National Council—and to listen.  We have a subcommittee in formation to facilitate these meetings, which is preparing suggested templates and a “speakers’ bureau” for those who wish to have them.  At least 15 of these meetings have been held so far, and several more are scheduled in the coming months.  We are seeking volunteers to work with our committee in planning local and regional events.

We plan to publish on line and in print as many “consumer friendly” but practical materials as we can—to educate and provide foundation for discussion and conscience formation—but always with a practical focus.  We are forming an “editorial board” to produce these materials.  If you are interested, please let us know.

We have the beginnings of a website and have hundreds of responses—offers of help and support or just “keep me informed” statements.

What Needs to be Done?

1. Confirmation of process and expansion of the planning group and the sub-committees to achieve in reality our commitment to inclusivity.
2. Practical arrangements for the Council, including scheduling and helping to insure that local and regional conferences take place, must be finalized.  (We recognize that planning for the substance of the Council itself will continue over the next 18 months.  We have a sub-committee working on the thematic material for the Council.)
3. We need to flesh out our website and begin to reach out to those who have “registered.”  Within a few days we will have the ability for on line registration, filing of comments, and contribution commitments.
4. We need to raise money.

If this interests you, please join us—we welcome your views, your support, and your leadership.

Janet Hauter and John Hushon
(Co-Chairs, ACC)

* This qualification decision was made to ensure that groups committed to a pre-Vatican II restoration of a clerical, hierarchical Church or who rejected the roles and responsibilities of all baptized did not attempt to co-opt or abort the Council.  We realized that the importance of Vatican II was often lost on Catholics born after the 1950s—but we decided that we could articulate the principles of Vatican II without focusing on the Vatican Council itself.