Quote Originally Posted by Kraxis
I would have to second that thought...

I was 'inactively' using my priests. Then I began a hearty 'upgrade' programme for them, so I could dominate the College without the need to kill the other cardinals (my good old assassins got old). Suddenly I get three Theologian Guild offers in a row after some time spent converting lands (one of my cardinals and his priest sidekick are having a convertion-battle with four imams near Nicaea).
It probably doesn't really matter so much whether "a" stands for "agent", "action" or "all". What matters is what the game does with the points. This story seems pretty consistent with the view that "a" points are awarded to all your settlements.

A cardinal promotion gets you 10 "a" points, as does a denouncement. Converting population itself does not appear to earn points, but it does get you Cardinals.