What happens on an ACTS retreat? What activities? Is it a silent retreat? If not, am I required to participate?

This isn’t a silent retreat – it is more participative.  While the retreats are planned around the same format, they all happen a little differently and part of the blessing (and enjoyment) of the retreat is discovering what it means to you as it happens.  For this reason, it is hard to get into specifics.  There is prayer, reflection, liturgy and discussion. You can choose to participate in the discussion as much or as little as you like.  People are different, so their experience and reaction to the retreat differs, but if you talk to men and women who have been on the retreat, you’ll see that responses are typically very positive.