Why Pope Francis is Polling The World’s Catholics
By Jack Jenkins, Guest Blogger on November 16, 2013 at 9:45 am
Pope Francis raised eyebrows among church officials and lay Catholics alike this past weekend after he sent a message to American bishops asking them make the church “more welcoming” and instructing them to uncover what American Catholics really think about same-sex marriage, divorce, and contraception.
The charge was part of an unusual effort by the Vatican to conduct a global survey of Catholic laypeople, with church leaders asking bishops to gauge opinions of parishioners on marriage equality, contraception, and divorce. The news is getting a lot of attention in progressive Catholic circles, in part because the survey—which thousands have already filled out online for their local diocese—will likely expose the growing divide between Catholic leadership and the laity on so-called “family issues,” with parishioners often holding far more progressive views then their established leadership. This is especially significant given that the survey, which is being distributed to bishops in the form of a questionnaire, is meant to help prepare for next October’s “extraordinary synod,” a gathering of select bishops called by the pope as he seeks council on “Pastoral Challenges of the family in the context of evangelization.”
The Catholic church currently condemns homosexual activity, denies communion to those who get a divorce and remarry without an annulment, and decries the use of contraception. But while Pope Francis hasn’t yet altered church teaching on these issues, he has dramatically changed the tone in which they are discussed; Francis’ predecessor, Benedict XVI, advocated for a “smaller but purer” brand of conservative Catholicism, but Francis has taken steps to broaden the reach of the church by refusing to pass judgment on homosexuality and saying that the church is too “obsessed” with abortion, gay marriage and contraception.
Thus, the pontiff’s call for a worldwide survey of Catholics seems to be a recognition of two things rarely considered by recent popes: (1) that the perspective of the world’s one billion lay Catholics should be taken seriously when discussing church teaching, and (2) that despite the doggedly conservative positions of most Catholic leaders, any modern attempt to evangelize has to acknowledge the large percentages — if not the growing majority — of Catholic parishioners who now openly espouse progressive religious views on issues of marriage equality, contraception, and divorce.
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/11/16/2943221/rise-progressive-catholicism-pope-francis-polling-worlds-catholics/
