The unprecedented consultative document, sent out in preparation for a 2014 meeting of the world’s bishops, is available online on diocesan websites.
Time is running out for Irish Catholic to express their views to the Vatican on controversial issues around marriage and the family.
The unprecedented consultative document, sent out in preparation for a 2014 meeting of the world’s bishops, is available online on diocesan websites.
Questions include attitudes to same-sex relationships, Catholics who are divorced and living in second marriages, contraception and passing on the faith to younger generations.
Although preparations for next year’s extraordinary Synod of Bishops include an assessment of Catholics’ attitudes toward relevant Church teachings, the synod’s work will be based on Catholic doctrine and not on current public opinion, officials have said.
“Certainly the doctrine of the Magisterium must be the basis of the common reasoning of the synod,” said Cardinal Peter Erdo, the synod’s relator. “It is not a question of public opinion.”
As the relator, Cardinal Erdo will synthesise the remarks and recommendations of his fellow bishops in two speeches during the gathering, which Pope Francis has called for October 2014. Last month, the Vatican sent bishops’ conferences around the world a preparatory document that included a 39-item questionnaire asking about the promotion and acceptance of Catholic teachings on marriage and the family, and cultural and social challenges to those teachings.
Irish Catholics are being asked to consider the questions and forward responses to their dioceses. The various responses will then be collated before being forwarded to the Vatican by the hierarchy.
Ireland is expected to be represented at the synod by the President of the bishops’ conference, currently Cardinal Sean Brady. However, Cardinal Brady is scheduled to retire just weeks before the synod meaning Ireland may be represented instead by Archbishop Eamon Martin.
You can view the synod questionnaire on www.irishcatholic.ie