WHAT THE PEOPLE
OF GOD SAID
At the beginning of
December, I announced in
these pages and in a letter sent to all of our parishes and
missions that our diocese would welcome any input from the faithful as they
might wish to the questions sent by the Holy See at the request of Pope Francis
on marriage and family life in our day.
Over 6,800 people
responded, taking time to fill out the survey, often taking significant
additional time to add comments to the online version or by filling out the
survey on paper and submitting it (written submissions were subsequently
entered into the online survey). What Gallup, Pew or the other polling
companies would give for nearly 7,000 participants in what was basically an
opinion poll!
The timeline was short, too
short, but all the responses were received, reviewed by members of the Diocesan
Pastoral Council, results shared with the Presbyteral Council and then in
mid-January forwarded by me to the appropriate office in Rome which is planning
for the two synods which will discuss marriage and family life in our day in
October of this year and October of 2015.
At the time, I promised to
share the responses with all who took the time to respond. That is what I will
attempt to do here, though in something of “shorthand” since the print-out of
everything exceeded 3,000 printed pages. Therefore, what is impossible to share
in a medium such as this is all of the “free-form” comments which I would
characterize as serious, lacking in polemics, sincere, and reflecting little of
the polarity which exists in the Church today. I am very proud of what was
said, how it was said and who said it.
Before you start looking at
the numbers, there are several things which you need to keep in mind. The
survey responses generally reflect the “choir,” those people who
faithfully attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation, if not daily.
They do not represent the feelings of those who have fallen away from the practice
of their faith, are angry or frustrated or feel alienated by the Church. How I
wish I could have heard from them as well, but given the short time line
mandated by the Holy See for input, the only vehicle for informing God’s people
of the survey was through those in church or some others who take the time to
read this blog, the diocesan Facebook or Twitter, or our diocesan website.
Having said that, I think
the thoughts of those who no longer practice their Catholic faith –
particularly those concerning our pastoral practice on marriage - were
well-represented by the people who did respond. Overall, the Church which I am
privileged to lead has some real concerns about precisely the matters which the
Holy Father wished tested. Our overall score as institutional Church calls for
something of an overhaul of our “common core teachings” (couldn’t resist –
sorry!).
Also, please keep in mind
that we had to take the sometimes very foreign language of the incoming survey
and translate it best as we could into words, terminology and concepts which
educated American Catholics could understand. I would give our instrument a B+
or an A- in clarity. Please also note that the overwhelming majority of
respondents are older-generation Catholics, most of whom are married and are
regular church-goers. Young singles and married couples numerically are not as
well-represented.
If you wish to see the
statistical results from the survey in the diocese, simply click here.
Summarizing the free-form
comments and responses was a more challenging exercise but I think I can do
them justice with the following comments:
1. There was very strong
support for the notion that marriage (which I believe they understood as
sacramental marriage) is between one man and one woman.
2. Having said that, it was
also clear that the respondents felt that the Church needed to be prepared to
better respond to the reality of same-sex marriage and wished that those
engaged and involved in such relationships believe the Church to think them
bad, sinful, or drum them out-of-the-corps.
3. The respondents
generally tended to suggest that the Church needed to be kinder and gentler to
those who identify themselves as gay and lesbian, be less judgmental and more
welcoming.
4. Very clearly stated was
the opinion that an adopted child of same-sex parents should be treated in the
Church exactly the same as a child born of a traditional marriage between a man
and a woman.
5. The respondents felt
very strongly that something needs to be done to reconcile and welcome back the
divorced and remarried beyond the present annulment process, about which there
seems to be confusion. The mistaken notions that an annulment renders children
of the first marriage illegitimate and that simply being divorced excludes one
from the sacramental life of the Church indicates that as a local Church we need
to do something soon to educate our people better on these two points.
6. The media takes a
hammering in the survey results, largely because it is seen as the force
majeure for challenging traditional concepts about marriage and family
life. They render alternate lifestyles legitimate in the eyes of our
respondents and perhaps are so strong that they will effectively negate
anything done to support traditional notions of marriage and family life.
7. The respondents strongly
said that the Church needs “to wake up and smell the coffee” on cohabitation.
It is commonplace and there are some reasons for it which can not be summarily
dismissed, such as economic realities.
8. Finally, on the matter
of artificial contraception the responses might be characterized by the saying,
“that train left the station long ago”. Catholics have made up their minds and
the sensus fidelium suggests the rejection of Church teaching on
this subject.
So, a natural question is “What
next?” The survey results raised issues that can only be resolved by the
universal church and ultimately by the Holy Father himself. I gather from what
I read that our results are not markedly different from those being reported
elsewhere around the world. I hope that the effort to canvas the thoughts of the
People of God in this diocese, which was unique in Florida, will be helpful to
those who will soon gather in synod with the Holy Father.
But there are pastoral
results from the survey which we can attend to and I hope we will. I have made
it known that I will not tolerate any discrimination or anything which smacks
of the punitive to children of same-sex couples. I think all representatives of
the Church’s many ministries can be kinder, gentler, more welcoming and
less judgmental of those who find our praxis and preaching on marriage and
family life to be at odds with their experiences. We need to address clearly
that divorce itself is not something which bans a person from reception of the
sacraments and that annulments do not illegitimize children born of previous
marriages. Working with our diocesan Marriage and Family Life Office and with
our priests and deacons, we can either begin or strengthen the process of
healing for many in the Church.
Finally, if the “choir” is
singing this anthem, imagine what we might have heard had we had the time and
access to those alienated, fallen-away, hurt or frustrated. Pope Francis’ call
to hightail it to the trenches, to the difficult and smelly parts of the people
of God to bring the love and hope of Jesus Christ is not only a call to serve
the economically impoverished but the spiritually impoverished, so often of our
own making. God bless you and our efforts.
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