That a request for worldwide views on family matters has come from Rome (see The Church in the World, page 32) is indeed to be welcomed, but it comes with a health warning. We must ask who designed this text, what advice was sought from professional survey groups, expert in the construction of such surveys, and further, was the opinion of married couples taken into account in this formative stage or is this just the result of clerical consideration in the Vatican?Many of the questions are convoluted and unfocused, with nests of questions under one heading. How the responses will be analysed is a whole new area of concern, given that there is a very short period of time between now and the meeting of the synod. In its present format, it allows scope for selective views to be considered.Yet