Vänner,
En stor opinionsundersökning bland katoliker över hela USA bekräftar det stora avståndet mellan kyrkoledning och kyrkomedlemmar i de frågor om familj och sexualitet som skall diskuteras under den kommande synoden i Rom:
”Divorce and remarriage
- 75 percent felt divorced and remarried couples believed their relationship to be worthy of the sacraments, regardless of church recognition of their union.
- 82 percent agreed that simplification of annulment rules would be beneficial.
- Ninety-two percent viewed parents in marriages not recognized by the church as approaching the church for sacraments, while 51 percent viewed them as approaching the church for catechesis and 52 percent, general teaching.
- Most did not know of ministerial outreach at the diocesan (51 percent) or national (67 percent) level.
Marriage equality and ministerial outreach to LGBT Catholics
- 73 percent said marriage equality is either extremely important (47 percent) or very important (26 percent).
- 64 percent felt there are Catholics in same-sex unions who do not believe their situation warrants denial of sacraments and still approach the church for them.
- 57 percent said there is a law recognizing marriage equality in their states.
This survey asked more in-depth questions about LGBT issues than other surveys. The findings are worth reporting since they suggest there is more acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender couples at the parish and small faith community levels than at the diocesan level.
- Over a third of respondents saw dioceses as hostile and condemning of marriage equality (37 percent) and same-sex couples (35 percent).
- A significantly smaller number viewed their parishes as hostile and condemning of marriage equality (11 percent) and same-sex couples (13 percent).
- Even fewer saw their small faith community as hostile and condemning of marriage equality (3 percent) and same-sex couples (4 percent).
Responsible parenthood and family planning
- 1 percent said the teachings of Humanae Vitae were completely accepted. Fifty-six percent said they were not accepted, and 43 percent said they were accepted in part.
- 76 percent support alternatives to Humanae Vitae, including contraception.
- 80 percent judged availability of contraception to be either extremely important (56 percent) or very important (24 percent).
- Three-quarters indicated that the following of conscience about family planning, even when it is not consistent with church teaching, does not appear to restrict approaching the sacraments of reconciliation and the Eucharist.
A 15-page report of both qualitative and quantitative findings and an 81-page report of randomly selected written responses in English and Spanish are downloadable at mycatholicfamily.org.”
Gert Gelotte
