VANCOUVER—Bishops around the world are asking the faithful to answers questions on marriage and family life ahead of the synod in Rome this fall.
It’s the second wide-open consultation on family concerns; the first was held before the extraordinary synod last year.
“This time around, the Vatican is looking for actual pastoral programs or approaches. It’s a different focus,” said Pavel Reid, director of the Life, Marriage, and Family Office of the archdiocese.
Pope Francis called on Catholics to send in their concerns about marriage, family planning, and education issues in 2013. Now he wants to hear suggestions how to improve things.
“What we really need people to do is be very to-the-point and concrete,” Reid said. Recommendations can list existing programs or new, practical ideas.
He asks those wishing to respond to first read a backgrounder document from the Vatican called a lineamenta.
“The family is uniquely important to the Church,” that document says. It “needs to be rediscovered as the essential agent in the work of evangelization.”
The lineamenta ends with a list of questions which the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has rewritten specifically for Canadians. Reid asks those responding to choose one or two and send their recommendations by Feb. 27.
Reid’s office, which is collecting all local responses, will also send specific questions to priests, canon lawyers, people who minister to couples or families, Eastern Orthodox priests, and protestant church leaders. “We’re trying to get the relevant questions into the hands of people who have a really strong background,” Reid said.
All suggestions will be collected and sent to the CCCB by March 16. Responses from across the country will be compiled into a report and sent to the Vatican before the Synod of Bishops Oct. 4-25.
“We’re not going to see any results right away,” Reid said. “They are not going to be reversing any Church teaching,” but “there’s a lot that’s open in terms of what the synod could decide to do.”
He guessed the synod’s first result might be an apostolic exhortation; Familiaris Consortio was written after a synod in 1980. Reid also anticipates some changes in the annulment process and a call for better marriage preparation programs.
“The consultation process is going to produce good results just by having those conversations and writing those emails,” Reid said.
“If people come up with an idea that they can put into practice in their parish or their school now, just get permission to do it and go ahead. You don’t have to wait for the Pope to read it.”
The lineamenta and the CCCB’s questions can be read at www.rcav.org/synod-bishops-family-2015. Suggestions must be emailed to synod@rcav.org by Feb. 27.
