Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted announced today the launch of a questionnaire for use at the October 2015 Ordinary Synod of Bishops on the theme, “The Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and Contemporary World.”
All of the Catholic faithful are invited to respond to the questionnaire. The responses will help inform Pope Francis and the Bishops of the Synod about the challenges faced by today’s families and enable them to discuss and develop appropriate pastoral solutions.
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Take the 2015 Synod Questionnaire for the Synod on the Family
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“I ask Catholics to prayerfully and purposefully consider each question in the questionnaire,” Bishop Olmsted said. “These important questions will assist me in offering a summary on the Synod’s theme of marriage and the family.”
The questionnaire will be available online from Monday, Feb. 2 through Sunday, Feb. 22, in both English and Spanish. The link to the questionnaire is on the Diocesan website at diocesephoenix.org.
The response from the Diocese of Phoenix will be shared with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and then incorporated into a document that will be forwarded on to the Vatican for use at the Synod.
To help prepare for the October 2015 meeting, Pope Francis has asked Bishops around the world to consult with the faithful in developing a new set of questions aimed at getting a better understanding of the challenges faced today by families. It will explore three parts:
- Listening: The Context and Challenges of the Family,
- Looking at Christ: The Gospel of the Family, and
- Confronting the Situation: Pastoral Perspectives.
In 2013, the Bishops of the world were asked to respond to a series of questions to help gather information to prepare for the Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops taking place in 2014. The responses to these questions were examined thoroughly in an effort to more deeply understand the new challenges of the family. The responses of the faithful to this new set of questions will inform the 2015 Ordinary Synod on the Family.
