The Vatican survey to find out what Catholics really think about its teaching on marriage and family life was badly organised by the Vatican civil service and our own bishops of England and Wales – haphazardly distributed, and couched in ecclesiastical language that risked being lost on ordinary souls. The bishops of England and Wales provided little in the way of guidance. By putting the survey on their website and inviting opinion, they surrendered authority and leadership when perhaps it was most needed. Not to publish the results, as German bishops have, turned the exercise into a one-way transmission, without engagement or debate. Our bishops passed the buck.Your leader (“Tell the world what we said”, 15 February) was absolutely right to lament the absence of any re