The Church and “liveable” answers ” “

The Catholic Church in Luxembourg put online an analysis of the response to questionnaires on the family promoted by the Bishops’ Synod with a view to the event of next October. “Most respondents say they feel close to the Church and identify with it”, states the foreword. “But from this perspective, the figures are even more alarming. In fact, they highlight a widening gap between Church Magisterial proclamation and the reception of the doctrine among members of the Church”. The 34-page document sent to Rome features an analysis of 52 answers (39 by individuals and 13 by groups) compiled by a team of experts appointed by archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich. The centrality of language. The document reiterates in the introduction and in several passages that “the wording adopted in many parts of the questionnaire” has been perceived as “complicated and obscure”. This fact “might have prevented greater participation in the survey” along with the “short amount of time” available to distribute and collect the compiled questionnaires. Moreover, respondents’ knowledge of magisterial documents appears to be “very low”, owing to its “unfamiliar, incomprehensible and out-dated language”. While the important role the Church ascribes to the family is known, the importance of magisterial teaching is in “free fall” given the “normative value of conscience” and individual freedoms. Pastoral programs, according to respondents, are “often directed at traditional family models, which reflect only a part of real situations”, while “in the case of problematic family circumstances the Church has no liveable answer”. It is also stated that “the doctrine on marriage” and “responsible fatherhood” is “rejected in non-ecclesial circles (and sometimes also by ecclesial ones)”, as the Church is viewed as “distant, non-competent” in these matters. Furthermore, under certain aspects the encyclical “Humanae Vitae” is said “to have created a divide between the Church and society that is hard to bridge”. Compassion, openness, understanding. While the tone of Luxembourg’s document is very critical, no proposals or preferential options have been advanced. Rather, there is repeated emphasis on “the approach the Church should adopt in these situations”, namely, “compassion and openness, without prejudice”, “yearning to explore and to understand before taking a decision”. Major emphasis is also placed on the theme of the “family as a household Church”, which is typical of lay Christian movements, while the promotion of the family from this perspective should instead be “a priority of the Church’s pastoral ministry!” The time before marriage. In Luxembourg, where 72% of youths’ experience of cohabitation is “ad experimentum”, “the pastoral challenge is to seriously consider the period before marriage and recognize that marriage is the end of a process that is consolidated through sacramental celebration”. Even the situation of remarried divorcees is a reality, in the face of which pastoral approaches are very diversified, although in general terms “there is a contradiction between canon law and the doctrine and pastoral closeness put into practice”. There is also repeated mention of the “suffering inflicted through the exclusion from sacraments – notably reconciliation -“. The rule for access to sacraments “according to discernment” appears inadequate. Respondents demand to “translate the pastoral of mercy into practice and to create the right environment where it can be proposed and lived”. Conversely, as relates to homosexual couples, the Luxembourg’s questionnaires don’t contain precise positions or indications except the appeal to “take reality as it is, without trying to change it with moral representations”, along with an approach based on welcome and Christian love. Other challenges and proposals. The document presents a list of requests, starting with a reconsideration of language and communication forms on the part of the Church, to review the Church’s definition of the family; not to make the theme of sexuality the only benchmark to evaluate the human person, the marriage and the family. It also contains a request to involve in the Synod also remarried divorcees so they may give their active contribution; to “face the social changes of the family, gay marriage, family planning”; to “seriously reconsider positions” on contraception. The answers to the questionnaire also highlight the need for a reflection on priestly vocation, including celibacy and women ordination, with a view to more “pastors and communities capable of being close to people”.