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Bishops Asked To Assess Marriage, Family Life To Prepare For Synod

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Bishops around the world are being asked to take a realistic look at the situation of families under their care, and at how effective pastoral and educational programs have been at promoting church teaching on sexuality, marriage and family life.

The preparatory document for the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family, which will be held in October 2014, ends with 38 questions about how church teaching is promoted, how well it is accepted and ways in which modern people and societies challenge the Catholic view of marriage and family.

Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, general secretary of the synod, asked bishops to distribute the document and questionnaire "as widely as possible" to deaneries and parishes, summarize the responses and send them to the Vatican by the end of January. Work is already underway in the Diocese of Evansville to collect information and provide input for the synod.

 “During the first months of his pontificate, Pope Francis has often made reference to the influence of family members on his own understanding of God’s presence and mercy in his life,” Bishop Charles C. Thompson said. “This understanding clearly resonates with the Church’s teaching of the family as being the ‘domestic church,’ the nucleus of society and the fabric of stability in every culture.

“The Synod on the Family, to take place in October 2014, is very timely as we strive to strengthen the awareness and appreciation of the immense value of the family as the first school of faith, hope and love,” he added. “Families carry many wounds – caused by addiction, abuse betrayal and illness. Yet, welcoming Jesus Christ as a member provides the grace of holiness in any family system. We do well to pray for our families to be holy – an essential aspect of the call of New Evangelization.”

Catholic Charities is coordinating the effort on behalf of Bishop Thompson, who has already approved a plan for gathering input from across the diocese.

“Dominic Faraone, the Family Life Coordinator for Catholic Charities, is hard at work developing data-acquisition instruments,” said Catholic Charities Director Sharon A. Burns.  “We will be asking all who are requested to provide insights, primarily through online surveys, to respond promptly so that Bishop Thompson is able to submit his report in a timely fashion.”

Pope Francis convoked the extraordinary synod on "pastoral challenges to the family in the context of evangelization" for Oct. 5-19, 2014, and will bring together presidents of bishops' conferences, the heads of Eastern Catholic churches and the heads of Vatican offices to describe the current situation and "to collect the bishops' experiences and proposals in proclaiming and living the Gospel of the family in a credible manner," the document said.

A second gathering, a world Synod of Bishops on the family, will be held in 2015 "to seek working guidelines in the pastoral care of the person and the family," it said.

"Vast expectations exist concerning the decisions which are to be made pastorally regarding the family," the document said.

Some people may believe changes in church teaching are in store given Pope Francis' emphasis on mercy, forgiveness and not judging others – and his specific comments on helping divorced and civilly remarried couples who cannot receive Communion. However, the document said, "the teaching of the faith on marriage is to be presented in an articulate and efficacious manner so that it might reach hearts and transform them in accordance with God's will."

Church teaching always has been clear that marriage is a lifelong bond between one man and one woman open to having and educating children, it said, and the synod's goal will be "to communicate this message with greater incisiveness."

The preparatory document specifically mentioned modern contributions to church teaching, including the Second Vatican Council's defense of the dignity of marriage and family, Pope Paul VI's encyclical "Humanae Vitae" on fidelity and procreation in marriage, and Blessed John Paul II's teaching on God's plan for married love.

"The church's pastoral ministry," it said, "finds inspiration in the truth of marriage viewed as part of the plan of God, who created man and woman and, in the fullness of time, revealed in Jesus the completeness of spousal love elevated to the level of sacrament."

The questionnaire asks bishops to describe how people understand church teaching, how their local churches and Catholic movements try to promote it and what difficulties people face in accepting the teaching.

Synod organizers ask the bishops to estimate the percentage of local Catholics living together without being married, the percentage of those divorced and remarried, and the proportion of children and adolescents in their dioceses who are living in families in those situations.

Bishops are asked for their suggestions about the advisability of simplifying church annulment procedures and for suggestions on how that might be done.

The questionnaire surveys the bishops about the legal status of same-sex unions in their local area and church efforts to defend traditional marriage, but also asks them what kind of "pastoral attention can be given to people who have chosen to live" in same-sex unions and, in places where they can adopt children, what can be done to transmit the faith to them.

Several questions focus on "Humanae Vitae" and church teaching against the use of artificial contraception. The bishops are asked if people understand the teaching and know how to evaluate the morality of different methods of family planning. They also are asked if the question comes up in confessions and if they have suggestions for fostering "a more open attitude toward having children."