Hear the voices of the Church

In November 2013, over 16,000 Catholics responded to the Synod on the Family survey co-sponsored by Call To Action. The results, analyzed independently by Dr. Peter J. Fagan, PhD., M.Div. from the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland, were released earlier today and are available online. You can read the whole report and press release and browse the sampling of full text responses in English and Spanish.

Many Bishops councils around the world have begun to release their preparatory remarks for the upcoming Synod, pastoral statements of their observations as Bishops. This report does something different, it gives voice to Catholics from across the country not only in overview views of the "situation of the family" but in their own words. On the coalition website you'll find both the quantitative report and a sampling of directly quoted responses to the Survey. Dr. Fagan has done a wonderful job of reporting the results, which show a faithful people struggling to reconcile their lived realities with the strict dictates of the hierarchy.

Linda Pinto, one of the organizers of the effort, said, "Canon Law (212.3) gives church citizens the ‘right, indeed at times, the duty, in keeping with their knowledge, competence and position, to manifest their views on matters which concern the good of the Church.’ The tremendous response to this survey shows just how much wisdom Catholics are ready to share with Church leaders."

Read the whole report and press release and browse the sampling of full text responses in English and Spanish.

 P.S. Join the conversation on Facebook and don't forget to mark your calendars for our March webinar with Dr. Fagan!