England and Wales survey findings to stay under wraps

England and Wales survey findings to stay under wraps as German responses reveal laity rejecting church teaching

Some 16,500 responses have been received by the Bishops’ Conference of England of Wales to a Vatican survey of Catholics’ views on same-sex marriage, contraception and communion for divorced and remarried couples. But their contents will not be revealed, unlike in Germany, where the responses showed a huge gap between church teaching and what Catholics believe and practise.

A spokesman said the bishops would not reveal the results of the consultation prior to next October’s extraordinary synod on the theme of marriage and the family.

He revealed that of the 16,500 completed questionnaires, 12,266 responses were completed online and of these, a majority were from laity of whom 69 per cent were married and 38 per cent were parents.

Twenty per cent of respondents were in positions of responsibility within the Church as priests, chaplains, catechists, teachers, deacons, seminarians, or pastoral assistants, the spokesman said. “Distribution across the age ranges was fairly even, though weighted towards the older generation,” he added.

Full article here:http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/408/0/england-and-wales-survey-findings-to-stay-under-wraps-as-german-responses-reveal-gulf-between-church-teaching-and-laity-s-beliefs