Some of the worldwide Catholic episcopate have been anxious to reassure their people that there is no question of the church-wide survey of opinion on marriage and the family issuing in any doctrinal changes. Indeed Pope Francis has been clear that he, like any pope, is concerned to maintain Catholic doctrine. But he is prepared to change its application; and previous soundings have shown how much support there is among Catholic men and women for reform.Thus the 2,000 representative delegates from England and Wales attending the National Pastoral Congress in Liverpool in 1980 asked for “a fundamental re-examination of the Church’s teaching on marriage, sexuality and contraception”.The delegates gathered in Salzburg in 1998 for the three-day summit meeting of the “D