Vatican Launches Online Questionnaire Ahead of Synod of Bishops

The Vatican has launched a call for Catholics to share feedback ahead of the Synod, which is set to hold its first session in October. The page carries the words “The Church needs you!” in bold letters. This year’s process takes an unusual form: an online questionnaire rather than only the usual consultation of bishops.

The survey has 20 questions and is open to people who identify as Catholic and to those who do not. Some questions ask about a person’s “encounter with God,” their “faith,” and whether they have been baptised. Others address harder issues. The survey asks respondents why they think the Church has been losing followers and lists “pederasty,” a reference to the Church’s global child sex abuse scandal, as one possible reason. It also asks whether the institution does enough to communicate and dialogue with other groups, directly mentioning the “LGBTI” community. The poll was launched last summer and is hosted by the Juan Diego Network, a Latino-oriented Catholic podcast site. Since its release, certain Catholic social media influencers and bloggers, including Jimmy Akin, have promoted it.

The questionnaire is one of several ways the Church gathers information from its members about their current thoughts, fears and hopes. A US report from last September, cited in the article, found that many American Catholics hoped the Church would do more to embrace LGBTQ+ individuals and expressed concern about lingering racism. The report stated that “Catholic people of colo[u]r spoke of routine encounters with racism, both inside and outside the Church,” and that “Indigenous Catholics spoke of the generational trauma caused by racism and abuse in boarding schools.”

Tevin Williams, a New York City-based writer who identified himself as a Black, queer Catholic, spoke to Euronews Culture about those findings. He said the voices being heard “across the country, across the world, are calling for true listening of what is wrong and what the Church can do better at.” He added that the report reflects where people stand on marginalisation “based on race or based on sexuality,” and said, “The Church has to take these concerns seriously.” He also said people “are longing to be part of a community” and want the Church to reflect that internally and externally.

This year’s Synod also includes a change in who takes part. The Vatican has selected a group of laypeople to present their views to the assembly, going beyond the bishops who have traditionally gathered in Rome every few years to advise the Pope. Women will join the episcopal vote, according to the article’s introduction. The article notes that the Vatican has moved into territory it had not previously charted by bringing the Synod into the digital age.

The Synod of Bishops grew out of the Second Vatican Council, which met from 1962 to 1965. The article describes the Synod as an “advisory” body to the Pope and says the Council had a profoundly transformative impact on the Church, including updating its liturgy, ending Latin Masses, and opening the institution to greater ecumenical dialogue with other religions. At assemblies held in Rome, bishops draft a text on issues and challenges facing the Church and then vote on it.

Source: Read the original report