A preparatory document for next year’s extraordinary synod on “Pastoral Challenges to the Family in the Context of Evangelization” arrived in bishops’ in-boxes beginning Oct. 18, and was released publicly on Nov. 5. The Vatican department in charge of organizing synods has asked national bishops’ conferences to distribute the four-page document accompanied by 39 questions (see below) “as widely as possible” then get back to them at the end of January.
The interpretation of “as widely as possible” varies among bishops’ conferences. The bishops of England and Wales have posted the questions online in the form of a survey (www.surveymonkey.com/s/FamilySynod2014). Canada’s bishops have no plans to go that far.
They will consult at the level of parishes and deaneries.
“This is precisely the process we’ve followed in the past,” Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops president Archbishop Paul-André Durocher told The Catholic Register. “I have as a diocesan bishop done precisely this — sat down with the priests of the diocese to come up with a picture of the situation.”
Ultimately, it will be up to individual bishops and dioceses to decide how they will conduct the consultation, said Durocher. The CCCB executive was expected to discuss the issue at a meeting after The Catholic Register’s deadline.
Toronto’s episcopal board has been tied up with its annual priests’ retreat, but will discuss how the consultation will take place among the archdiocese’s 224 parishes later in the week, said archdiocesan communications manager Neil McCarthy.
Toronto may turn to its dozens of lay movements for input, McCarthy said.
“We’ve got a good network of those,” he said.
Durocher concedes there are some differences in the Vatican’s approach to this synod, the first under Pope Francis.
“What is different is perhaps the lineamenta (a first stab at defining the issues written by Vatican officials), which in this case is very short,” he said.
Outside observers tend to count the differences as perhaps small but significant. There’s nothing unusual about asking bishops’ conferences to consult and collate information to draw up a picture of the situation in their country, said Saint Paul University theologian Catherine Clifford.
“What is interesting in this case is that this consultation is to extend ‘as widely as possible’ including to ‘deaneries and parishes,’ ” Clifford wrote in an e-mail. “I would take this to mean that the synod wants to hear not only from experts and members of the clergy but most especially from the laity concerning their lived experience of marriage and family life.”
Clifford reached back half a century for a precedent.
“(It) is reminiscent of a wide survey that was conducted at the time of the Second Vatican Council by the Christian Family Movement, which consulted over 40,000 couples,” she said. “Their views had an important impact on what the council had to say regarding marriage and family life in Gaudium et Spes (also known as the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World).”
Despite seeking wide input, the synod’s work will be based on Catholic doctrine and not on current public opinion, officials said.
“Certainly the doctrine of the magisterium must be the basis of the common reasoning of the synod,” said Hungarian Cardinal Peter Erdo at a Vatican news conference. “It is not a question of public opinion.”
During the briefing, Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri said pastors were expected to provide summaries of the views and experiences of parishioners, and those findings would be “channeled” to national bishops’ conferences for consideration by the synod.
Asked if bishops should emulate Britain’s online polling, Baldisseri said the “question answers itself ” and was “not worth considering.”
As written, the questions from the Vatican are aimed at bishops.
“What questions do divorced and remarried people pose to the Church concerning the sacraments of the Eucharist and of Reconciliation?
Among those persons who find themselves in these situations, how many ask for these sacraments?” is an example.
But many of the questions do presume bishops know the mind of lay people. On the encyclical Humanae Vitae the survey asks: “Is this moral teaching accepted? What aspects pose the most difficulties in a large majority of couples accepting this teaching?”
The survey asks about the legal status of same-sex unions and pastoral care of children in same-sex households. There are also questions about polygamy, single parenthood and living together before marriage.
On the subject of evangelization, the questions probe how effectively the faith is handed on.
“In the current generational crisis, how have Christian families been able to fulfill their vocation of transmitting the faith?”
The questions also presume economic and cultural pressures that discourage couples from having children.
“How can a more open attitude towards having children be fostered? How can an increase in births be promoted?”
Though Survey Monkey online surveys tend to be less than scientific, gathering views of a self-selected pool of respondents, Clifford believes the British online survey is “an efficient way of gauging people’s views.”
“It will be important for the upcoming synod to reflect not only on abstract moral principles but also on the concrete challenges facing Catholic families in contemporary society and in a variety of cultural contexts,” she said.
While the British and Welsh bishops’ survey is intended to help them report on the state of the family in England and Wales, the British bishops welcome people from outside their country and promise to pass extraterritorial answers on to the appropriate bishops’ conferences.
A major part of the preparation for the 2014 Extraordinary Synod on the Family involves the following questionnaire from the Vatican that has been distributed to bishops around the world.
The following series of questions allows particular parishes to participate actively in the preparation of the Extraordinary Synod, whose purpose is to proclaim the Gospel in the context of the pastoral challenges facing the family today.
1. The Diffusion of the Teachings on the Family in Sacred Scripture and the Church’s Magisterium
a) Describe how the Catholic Church’s teachings on the value of the family contained in the Bible, Gaudium et spes, Familiaris consortio and other documents of the post-conciliar Magisterium is understood by people today? What formation is given to our people on the Church’s teaching on family life?
b) In those cases where the Church's teaching is known, is it accepted fully or are there difficulties in putting it into practice? If so, what are they?
c) How widespread is the Church's teaching in pastoral programmes at the national, diocesan and parish levels? What catechesis is done on the family?
d ) To what extent — and what aspects in particular — is this teaching actually known, accepted, rejected and/or criticized in areas outside the Church? What are the cultural factors which hinder the full reception of the Church’s teaching on the family?
2. Marriage according to the Natural Law
a) What place does the idea of the natural law have in the cultural areas of society: in institutions, education, academic circles and among the people at large? What anthropological ideas underlie the discussion on the natural basis of the family?
b) Is the idea of the natural law in the union between a man and a woman commonly accepted as such by the baptized in general?
c) How is the theory and practice of natural law in the union between man and woman challenged in light of the formation of a family? How is it proposed and developed in civil and Church institutions?
d) In cases where non-practicing Catholics or declared non-believers request the celebration of marriage, describe how this pastoral challenge is dealt with?
3. The Pastoral Care of the Family in Evangelization
a) What experiences have emerged in recent decades regarding marriage preparation? What efforts are there to stimulate the task of evangelization of the couple and of the family? How can an awareness of the family as the "domestic Church" be promoted?
b) How successful have you been in proposing a manner of praying within the family which can withstand life’s complexities and today’s culture?
c) In the current generational crisis, how have Christian families been able to fulfill their vocation of transmitting the faith?
d) In what way have the local Churches and movements on family spirituality been able to create ways of acting which are exemplary?
e) What specific contribution can couples and families make to spreading a credible and holistic idea of the couple and the Christian family today?
f) What pastoral care has the Church provided in supporting couples in formation and couples in crisis situations?
4. Pastoral Care in Certain Difficult Marital Situations
a) Is cohabitation ad experimentum a pastoral reality in your particular Church? Can you approximate a percentage?
b) Do unions which are not recognized either religiously or civilly exist? Are reliable statistics available?
c) Are separated couples and those divorced and remarried a pastoral reality in your particular Church? Can you approximate a percentage? How do you deal with this situation in appropriate pastoral programmes?
d) In all the above cases, how do the baptized live in this irregular situation? Are aware of it? Are they simply indifferent? Do they feel marginalized or suffer from the impossibility of receiving the sacraments?
e) What questions do divorced and remarried people pose to the Church concerning the Sacraments of the Eucharist and of Reconciliation? Among those persons who find themselves in these situations, how many ask for these sacraments?
f ) Could a simplification of canonical practice in recognizing a declaration of nullity of the marriage bond provide a positive contribution to solving the problems of the persons involved? If yes, what form would it take?
g) Does a ministry exist to attend to these cases? Describe this pastoral ministry? Do such programmes exist on the national and diocesan levels? How is God’s mercy proclaimed to separated couples and those divorced and remarried and how does the Church put into practice her support for them in their journey of faith?
5. On Unions of Persons of the Same Sex
a) Is there a law in your country recognizing civil unions for people of the same-sex and equating it in some way to marriage?
b) What is the attitude of the local and particular Churches towards both the State as the promoter of civil unions between persons of the same sex and the people involved in this type of union?
c) What pastoral attention can be given to people who have chosen to live in these types of union?
d) In the case of unions of persons of the same sex who have adopted children, what can be done pastorally in light of transmitting the faith?
6. The Education of Children in Irregular Marriages
a) What is the estimated proportion of children and adolescents in these cases, as regards children who are born and raised in regularly constituted families?
b) How do parents in these situations approach the Church? What do they ask? Do they request the sacraments only or do they also want catechesis and the general teaching of religion?
c) How do the particular Churches attempt to meet the needs of the parents of these children to provide them with a Christian education?
d) What is the sacramental practice in these cases: preparation, administration of the sacrament and the accompaniment?
7. The Openness of the Married Couple to Life
a) What knowledge do Christians have today of the teachings of Humanae vitae on responsible parenthood? Are they aware of how morally to evaluate the different methods of family planning? Could any insights be suggested in this regard pastorally?
b) Is this moral teaching accepted? What aspects pose the most difficulties in a large majority of couple’s accepting this teaching?
c) What natural methods are promoted by the particular Churches to help spouses put into practice the teachings of Humanae vitae?
d) What is your experience on this subject in the practice of the Sacrament of Penance and participation at the Eucharist?
e) What differences are seen in this regard between the Church’s teaching and civic education?
f) How can a more open attitude towards having children be fostered? How can an increase in births be promoted?
8. The Relationship Between the Family and the Person
a) Jesus Christ reveals the mystery and vocation of the human person. How can the family be a privileged place for this to happen?
b) What critical situations in the family today can obstruct a person’s encounter with Christ?
c) To what extent do the many crisis of faith which people can experience affect family life?
9. Other Challenges and Proposals
What other challenges or proposals related to the topics in the above questions do you consider urgent and useful to treat?