American Bishops Thwart Pope Francis’ Attempt To Survey Catholic Public Opinion

[rug]

by Jean Ann Esselink on December 3, 2013

Last month, the Vatican sent out a questionnaire to Catholic bishops around the world. They wanted to know what modern Catholics think about issues like abortion, contraception, sex outside marriage, divorce, single-parent families, and same-sex marriage. The survey is in anticipation of the “Synod of Bishops” planned for October 2014 with the lofty theme: “The Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelisation.”

A cover letter sent with the questionnaire from Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, Secretary General of the Synod, asked for the bishops to distribute the questionnaire “as widely as possible” to ensure input from “local sources, to guide Vatican officials as they develop the agenda for the Synod”. Bishops in many countries, like the UK and Belgium, interpreted “as widely as possible” to mean rank and file Catholics should actually be able to read and respond to the Vatican’s survey, so in addition to distributing it to their parishioners at Sunday mass, they posted it on line.

American bishops went another way, and instead of asking regular people their opinions, most have decided they will answer it themselves.

“We have a very short window in which to gather data” San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller told the San Antonio Express-News. (We could ) “never gather or collate that volume of data in such a short time. Plus, that’s not what Rome is expecting from the bishops.”

http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/american-bishops-thwart-pope-francis-attempt-to-survey-catholic-public-opinion/news/2013/12/03/79582#.Up52PU4o73g

If they weren't busy filing lawsuits, we'd have completed the survey by now.

[hrmjustin]

1. I wish he would just fire some of these Bishops and Cardinals and start over.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

2. What Archbishop Garcia-Siller really means

When he said, “We have a very short window in which to gather data... (We could ) never gather or collate that volume of data in such a short time. Plus, that’s not what Rome is expecting from the bishops.”

he means "We're ducking it, because we really don't care what the laity thinks."

I will say, however, that the questionnaire is badly done. One of the questions is only meaningful if one not only knows what the "Natural Law" tradition in Catholic theology is, but also agrees with it. Another question asks if the respondent's country has laws covering gay marriage, to which I responded "Why are you asking me? Don't you know?"

[IrishAyes]

3. Why Am I Not Surprised?

Can anyone find out whether the UK online survey could be accessed from here?

[rug]

4. The UK survey closed November 30 but here's the questionnaire on the Vatican website.

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/synod/documents/rc_synod_doc_20131105_iii-assemblea-sinodo-vescovi_en.html

Can't fill it out there, though.

[IrishAyes]

5. Thanks.

I guess we were cut out of the process, weren't we? I hope the bishops live to regret it.

[olegramps]

6. The American Catholic bishops know exactly what they are doing.

It is very simple. They are determined to block any attempt that will clearly demonstrate extent of the laities' rejection of the church's stance on a number of these issues. Everyone of these bishops was chosen by the last two popes because of their absolute unquestioned acceptance of the church's doctrines. The excuse that they wouldn't be able to collect the information in a timely manner is only indicative of their mentality that if they can suppress the information that people will not know the extent of dissatisfaction that has been well documented by numerous studies. It is just an other example of their arrogance that they alone have a monopoly on truth.

[No Vested Interest]

7. The powers that be in Rome will/do know what is going on with American

bishops.