Family survey results released

Two Catholic bishops have written about the results of surveys they conducted in response to the Vatican’s questionnaire for the upcoming Synod on the Family, writes Michael Sean Winters.

Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh and Bishop Robert Lynch of St Petersburg admitted that the Church has “not done a great job” explaining its teachings on family life and human sexuality. Many Catholic couples “tend to be politely indifferent or dismissive” of the Church’s teachings on issues such as cohabitation before marriage, Bishop Zubik said. “Catholics who live and practise the faith have become a minority in the United States even within the wider Catholic community.”

Bishop Zubik noted that many Catholics either do not know the Church’s teachings, or know them and do not follow them.

“One of the most challenging aspects of dealing effectively with such issues is to present moral principles honestly and completely without watering down the truth but in a way that is not judgmental,” Bishop Zubik wrote.

Bishop Lynch wrote on his blog that 6,800 people responded to the survey his diocese conducted. He said there was widespread support for the belief that sacramental ­marriage should be conferred exclusively on one man and one woman. At the same time, “respondents felt that the Church needed to be better prepared to respond to same-sex marriage. Many respondents felt that the people involved in such relationships believe that the Church has turned its back on them.”

n Catholic Bishop Kevin Vann of Orange, California, is teaming up with Evangelical pastor Rick Warren and the National Alliance on Mental Illness for a conference on mental health and the Church on 28 March. Warren is pastor of a “megachurch” in California, and author of the best-selling The Purpose Driven Life. The issue became personal for Mr Warren when his son committed suicide last year.