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ACTA, A Call to Action, not to be confused with Call to Action USA , is a Catholic movement of lay and ordained people in England and Wales founded in 2012. It works for the wider implementation of Vatican 2 in the Church and improved dialogue between the hierarchy, clergy and laity. It is now represented in all dioceses and has around 1,500 active members with new ones arriving all the time.

Origins
In June 2012 a group of seven priests from various dioceses led by Derek Reeve from Portsmouth wrote a letter to the Tablet expressing their concerns about what they saw as the reining in of the spirit of renewal in the Church and the lack of dialogue. [sr1]  The name ‘A Call to Action’ was adopted from the Tablet’s original header to the letter, which elicited many enthusiastic responses from lay people, religious and priests. When in October 2012 a national meeting was held at Heythrop College, London,  over 400 people came, and the meeting  had to transfer into a larger nearby venue. [Sr2] Subsequently ACTA groups started up in various dioceses, and it was soon to spread into them all. In June 2013 the National Core Group appointed a smaller Steering Group to devise a Constitution and hold a National Conference, the second after Heythrop, which met at Newman University in Birmingham in October 2013. Both conferences attracted a large attendance. The 2014 ACTA conference is at Liverpool Hope University in October 2014.

Growth
Between 2012 and 2013 membership grew so fast that the National Steering Group was able to coordinate elections in every diocese in England and Wales, choosing representatives to participate in a new National Delegate Council. That NDC met at the October 2013 Conference and adopted an Interim Constitution. The geography and the needs of every diocese differ, so each area ACTA group within a diocese chooses its own path to promote the Mission Statement (below), with the NDC and its Leadership Team acting as facilitator. Leading theologians have spoken at ACTA meetings around the country. Some ACTA members attend meetings for adult faith formation, prayer and discussion. Others are engaged with church work such as Justice & Peace or Cafod, or Ignatian Spirituality, and join ACTA to show solidarity with its aims. Several  diocesan bishops have either met ACTA groups already or have meetings planned. ACTA has around 150 priest members. Cardinal Nichols met two of the leading priests from the core group in 2012. Archbishop Longley of Birmingham met with ACTA National Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary in July 2014.

Aims
Vatican II’s pastoral constitution, Gaudium et Spes, and the 1983 Code of Canon Law spell out that the whole body of the Church has the rights that go  with its calling and duties: Can.212,  ‘§3. The Christian Faithful have the right …and even at times the duty, to give…the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful’. [sr3]  Some  Catholic groups  have broadly similar aims, [sr4] but ACTA is not a protest group and does not focus on any single doctrinal or ethical or structural issue, but on dialogue at the local, diocesan and national level. It seeks to break down barriers so that every baptised person in the Church might feel a fuller sense of participation and ownership. It hopes to become a truly representative body, where bishops can access the sensus fidelium (the corporate belief, guided by the Holy Spirit, of the whole body of the faithful), and dialogue can flourish for the good of the whole church. More information on ACTA can be found on the web-site acalltoaction.org.uk   ACTA sums up its aims as promoting its MISSION STATEMENT, written by the original seven priests: We are a group of Catholics, some of whom are ordained, brought together by our love of Christ's church and our anxiety about its future. Still inspired by the Second Vatican Council we want to contribute fully to the life of our church so that we may be a more effective sign of the Kingdom of God. To do this, we believe that an atmosphere of openness and dialogue both with each other and with our bishops needs developing. We desire to help create a climate of trust and respect for all where this dialogue may be fostered.

External Link
Official Website