TALKING POINTS on ACC

TALKING POINTS: Script for an ACC Elevator elevator2 Speech

Originally Published in ACC Newsletter, September 2010 (Revised January, 2012)

1. What is ACC? We are a grassroots movement of faithful individual Catholics and reform groups who came together in Detroit, MI, on Pentecost Weekend in June of 2011, to celebrate the ideas of Vatican II at the dawn of the 50th Anniversary of the opening of that historical Ecumenical Council (1962-65). Those ideas are framed by what we call “Motifs of the Spirit” at Vatican II (see #3 below), and inform our agenda for Church Reform. Our gathering in Detroit was preceded by nearly 100 local listening sessions across the US and Canada to give voice to faithful Catholics seeking change in the church, the finds of which were presented in Detroit as the Soundings of the Faithful. We continue to promote local listening sessions with the aim to empower Catholics to live the vision of Vatican II as we advance the Catholic Bill of Rights and Responsibilities adopted Detroit. We educate those unfamiliar with the ideas of Vatican II and support efforts to effect change in Church governance power systems and structures.

2. Why celebrate Vatican II? It was a renaissance movement in the history of the Roman Catholic Church that changed the course of the Church.

3. What kind of ideas did Vatican II proclaim? The Holy Spirit was present at Vatican II in a special way We call the ideas of Vatican II Motifs of the Spirit:

The importance of Baptism: through baptism, all are called to conversion and to ministry;
The primacy of conscience: it’s the key element in decision making, particularly moral decision making;
The Church is in the world: it’s not above it;
Ecumenism: sincere and open-minded respect for theological diversity;
Enculturation: adaptation of liturgy, prayer and spirituality to local custom (use of vernacular), and respect for cultural diversity in education, governing style, worship, and praxis;
Openness to all peoples: saints, sinners, women and men and a view which sees sacraments as food for life’s journey;
Collegial and responsible decision making: respect for all individuals and their Spirit-filled gifts;

4. So why ACC? Isn’t all of this happening? Unfortunately no. Many entrenched hierarchical interests were frightened by the changes promised by Vatican II, some believing them misguided, others fearing loss of privilege, and others nostalgic for traditional “certainty” and social status. There has been very little change in the hierarchical and institutional structure of the Church:

Conscience is often denied;
Input of all the baptized in decision making is often lacking;
More than half of the baptized (women) suffer a terrible
injustice as they are denied ministry and roles in governance and are effectively disenfranchised;
The LGBT community has been effectively excluded;
Collegiality is not the norm;
Secrecy and loyalty to Rome are at historic highs;
Serious sexual and financial abuses have resulted, both associated with secret exercise of power which is the anti-thesis of the Gospel; thousands of lives have been shattered and millions of dollars in scarce charity have been misappropriated;

But, there is no question that Vatican II took. We remember and the dream has never died–so we are optimistic!

5. What were our original goals leading up to Detroit? Though we continue to re-frame our goals “post-Detroit,” our original goals before Detroit still inform our ongoing work. Here’s how we stated some of our original goals back in September 2010, nine month before Detroit:

Promote and support local leaders as they convene Listening Sessions/Assemblies to give voice to the faithful as we discern the sensus fidelium. To learn more about Listening Sessions, consider subscribing to the ACC Assemblies Community Network;
Keep alive and celebrate the Motifs of the Spirit of Vatican II (#3 above) through education, discussion and practice;
Expose Catholics to and legitimize different individual liturgical, prayer and lifestyle choices which are consistent with these Motifs and that are spiritually meaningful;
Strengthen the organizations that make up the reform movement; and
Provide some tangible “outcomes,” i.e. proclamation of a Catholic Bill of Rights and Responsibilities

6. if we accept the principles of the Catholic Bill of Rights and Responsibilities, what could change?

Active and meaningful parish and diocesan councils would be created;
Many more Catholics (women and men) would be involved in ministry;
The sexual abuse crisis would be acknowledged forthrightly with moral integrity; individuals responsible would be removed from ministry and punished; survivors would be given every opportunity to restore their lives;
Temporal governance would become transparent and would be de-clericalized;
All baptized would be involved in the selection of parish priests and bishops;
The unique bond between bishop and diocese would be renewed, with a reduction in curial loyalty and an increase in episcopal collegiality;
Opportunities for ordained ministry would be expanded (female, male and married clergy) to permit response to the call to ministry among all the baptized and to accommodate the needs of the baptized to counter the shortage of priests, to keep parishes open, and to minister to the needs of those in different personal lifestyles;
Alternative liturgical communities would be encouraged, i.e. small faith communities, intentional eucharistic communities
The Church’s role in proclaiming the Gospel to today’s world would be revitalized;

We believe we can do this;

We believe this is possible within the Church that Jesus founded;

We are not so naïve as to believe that long entrenched power and privilege will permit this to happen easily;

But, we know that as baptized Catholics we owe this effort to our Church, ourselves, and our children.