Cardinal Marc Ouellet told the Catholic News Service that this does happen nowadays, but the number of priests who do so is not high.

Priests decline an appointment as bishop, which is offered by the Pope, for a number of reasons, the cardinal said.

One priest told the Congregation for Bishops that he had cancer and had not told others of his illness.

"It was a sign of responsibility not to accept the appointment," Cardinal Ouellet said.

Others decline because of something in their past or because they think they cannot handle the responsibility, he said.

In the latter case, he said, "normally we insist" because often people are not the best judges of their own abilities.

But when a person makes "a decision in conscience", the Vatican respects that.

Cardinal Ouellet also confirmed that, since at least 2010, the confidential questionnaire sent to local bishops and clergy asking about a potential candidate includes a question about whether that person was ever was in a position of having to handle an accusation of clerical sexual abuse made against another priest or church worker.

"We have to be able to verify that he is able to handle these cases well, that is to say, he does not have a mentality of covering them up or not reporting them or not taking them seriously," the cardinal said.

Asked about the types of potential bishops the Pope desires, Cardinal Ouellet said the Pope "has insisted on the pastoral quality of the bishops".

"That's very clear. It does not mean that they do not have to be masters of the faith because a bishops is, first and foremost, the first teacher of the faith in his diocese.

"But the capacity to relate to people, to establish dialogue, to start from the point where people are - this is a quality that is also requested," the cardinal said.

Sources

• Catholic News Service
• Image: Flashpoint News

This was the main criticism in a summary of replies of German Catholics to the 46 questions of the second Vatican questionnaire on the family.

Germany's Catholic bishops released the summary of responses, with commentary, last week, The Tablet reported.

The idealised family image does not adequately relate to the reality of life in German society, the criticism noted.

Many of those who replied said that idealising marriage and the family not only did not appeal to Catholics in Germany but, on the contrary, put them off sacramental church marriage.

That is why many German Catholics would like to see definite steps taken before the October synod to overcome the gulf between family life as it is really lived and Church teaching.

The questionnaire had not found an "appreciative language for relationships which neither corresponded to the Church's ideals nor were definitely orientated towards marriage and the family", the bishops' report stated.

The German faithful were not satisfied with the Church's present teaching concerning remarried divorcees, "mixed" marriages and register office marriages.

Concrete changes from the Church concerning all three are expected by the faithful, the report noted.

"A pastoral approach which only sees such relationships as sinful and calls for repentance is not helpful as it contradicts the positive experiences which such couples have", the bishops' report stated.

German Catholics above all want to see remarried divorcees allowed to receive the sacraments under certain conditions.

"The expectation that the synod will open new pastoral possibilities is very high indeed", the report stated.

In a separate report, the German bishops' conference released the results of a survey that found 54 per cent of the country's Catholic priests go to Confession no more than once a year.

Only 58 per cent of German priests report that they pray every day.

Sources

• The Tablet
• Catholic World News
• Image: Antrim Parish

The New Zealand Catholic Bishops are inviting people to use the questionnaire as an opportunity to add their "voice" to the global discussion which began last year.

Completed questionnaires must be returned by 9 March.

Responses may be made by individuals or by groups.

Click here for the online questionnaire. Follow the instructions on the Bishops' Conference website.

A Word version of the questionnaire is also available on the Bishops' Conference website.

This hard copy version can also be used to respond to the questionnaire. The completed questionnaire can be emailed to Simone Olsen, Communications Adviser, communications@nzcbc.org.nz

The fourth session of the Synod takes place October 4-25, 2015.

In an invitation sent to parishes the Bishops said, "We are acutely aware of the many people who in their hearts consider themselves Catholic but are not regularly at Church."

"Please encourage these family members and friends to participate."

"Also of particular interest to us are those who see themselves as beyond the Church: perhaps some divorced and remarried, or gay women and men."

"We urge you to share your experiences through the questionnaire. No-one walks beyond the reach of the Good Shepherd."

• Click here to read the Bishops' press release.
• Click here for a full copy of the Document from the Holy See
  [THE VOCATION AND MISSION OF THE FAMILY IN THE CHURCH AND CONTEMPORARY WORLD 2014]

Source

• Supplied: NZCBC
• Image: catholicexchange.com

The responses are now in — and they show that the Church is badly in need of reform. Can Pope Francis meet such expectations?

Adolescents find it embarrassing to talk about sex with adults. Even more so when the adult in question is their Catholic priest.

About 20 girls and boys are sitting on leather sofas in the basement of St. Josef Catholic Community Centre on the outskirts of Berlin. The walls are brightly painted and bags of gummy bears and chocolate are on a table in the center of the room.

Hannah, Jonas and their friends giggle when Harald Tux, a friendly, balding man with glasses, reads a questionnaire from the Vatican out loud. It's about premarital sex, and the officials in Rome want to know how these young Catholics in Berlin's Weissensee neighbourhood feel about it.

"Is contraception an option for you?" the theologian asks. The youths are already whispering, and they can't help but smile when Tux finally gets to the point: "If you used contraception, would you confess to it?"

"Huh?" a girl asks with a grimace. "It's not a crime," exclaims a boy in a hooded sweatshirt. They all snort with laughter. Continue reading.

Source: Speigel

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