By now every one must have heard of the survey our Bishops
are to be circulating among the people of their respective dioceses.
It was the express mandate by the Vatican to
the chanceries of the world that they share the text "as widely as
possible to deaneries and parishes" for their input. Some Stateside
dioceses began quickly to move toward extending the consultation process into
the local level. Others not so much. The Archdiocese of Hartford has had
a link on its website for quite some time [along with the announcement of the
installation of Archbishop Leonard P. Blair as the successor to Archbishop Henry
J. Mansell on Monday, December 16, at 2 PM at the Cathedral of St. Joseph. We
can talk about Blair’s role in the “investigation” of the LCWR later]. It’s
interesting to note that the link leads to the Vatican Synod Preparatory
Document without a “user friendly” survey format provided. You’ll see that link
along the right column just a little below the picture of the new head of the Archdiocese:
But this original Vatican Preparatory Document has value in
providing background about why this survey is to be made available by each
diocese to all the people.
Okay, I know Vatican documents are not the most engrossing reading.
More useful is the site giving the letter to the US Bishops
from the USCCB Secretary Msgr. Ronny Jenkins along with a downloadable format
of the survey questions:
So if you want to cut to the chase, just go to that site to
see the survey and make your responses.
So you figure “What’s the use? They never listen anyway.” But
stop and think about this. When has the
whole Church—that is, the people of God, not just the hierarchy—been asked
their opinion on anything? This step is historical and momentous!
I side with the comment by one reviewer. “WillS” at the
survey site of NCR:
I personally am a
bit disappointed to the responses of my fellow "liberal" bloggers
here. We have an option, finally, to
have some input, and yet we complain it's not perfect. Not what
"should" be done. Get over it! Fill out the survey. The survey, while
a little heady and long, provides a great opportunity to cast wide answers to
the questions asked, so do it. If we don't respond because we think the answers
will be watered-down by the bishops, we've created...and used the excuse
ourselves. It is one of our tools to communicate our needs, something that
we've been asking for forever. Use the tools, good or bad, and maybe the next
one will be better. Don't give our bishops an excuse to dismiss us. Who would
have thought the Vatican would be asking for lay input a year ago? Is this not
, with all its faults, a move in the right direction?
And okay, the last time the Vatican sought an opinion from
the faithful was back in the 60’s when Pope Paul VI followed up on the work of
John XXIII in extending the Pontifical Commission of Birth Control to 72 members.
And as we see from history, according to Wikipedia:
Paul VI explicitly rejected his commission's
recommendations in the text of Humanae Vitae, noting the 72 member commission had Cardinal
Ottaviani, the commission's president and Bishop Colombo,
the papal theologian). Humanae Vitae did,
however, explicitly allow the modern forms of natural family planning that were then being developed.
On the basis
of that ill-conceived decision, many were disillusioned about Papal consultation
with “the people.” [A significant contribution to the narrative of that history,
Turning Point, by Robert McClory is available
at http://www.amazon.com/Turning-Point-Control-Commission-Humanae/dp/0824514580
But then, this is not 1966. And a lot has happened—in Church and in our world—since then, significantly Pope Francis.
All I can say is that this is an opportunity to be part of
history and a chance to express opinion on some very significant topics. A
number of years ago, Call to Action marketed a T-shirts with the logo “We are the
Church. What if we really believed it?” For my part, I’m responding. And in a
follow up entry, I’ll be posting my commentary. Will you share yours as a
comment on this site?
