1400 people between the age of 16 to 29 years have so far responded to the invitation from the New Zealand Catholic Bishops to say what they think about life, faith, and their experience of Church through an online survey. “It’s really heartening to see so many who want to be involved and have their Read more
A cardinal who will run a session of October’s synod on the family says he is shocked at responses to a Vatican questionnaire on the topic. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila told the Catholic News Service he found the responses “shocking, if I am allowed to use that word”. “Shocking because almost in all Read more
Ireland’s bishops have issued a public statement about the local results of the Vatican survey on family life, in a reversal of a previous decision. The bishops acknowledged that Church teaching can sometimes be a challenge, with some respondents seeing the teaching “as disconnected from real-life experience”. Continue reading
A British bishop has criticised a decision by his confreres not to publish the findings of a Vatican survey about the family. Bishop Tom Burns of Menevia said the UK bishops should publish the findings of the survey. It asked questions on cohabitation, contraception and same-sex marriage. This is in the interests of transparency, he Read more
Church teachings on sexual morality are either unknown or rejected as heartless. These are the initial findings in Germany and Switzerland to the Vatican’s worldwide survey, that found most Catholics in these countries dispute Church teaching on birth control, premarital sex, gay sex and banning divorced people from remarrying in the church. The German bishops said Read more
Amid the scramble to gather new data ahead of next October’s synod on the family, a question arises: Will church officials incorporate the wealth of insights collected in recent decades by researchers inside and outside the US church? In late October, the Vatican sent to national bishops’ conferences a preparatory document and questionnaire for the Read more