Will Pope Francis' Church respond to new dynamic?

HOW great is the gap between the official teaching of the Catholic Church, especially in the sphere of sexuality, and the actual practice and behaviour of Catholics? Thanks to an initiative by Pope Francis, we are about to find out.

The pope has ordered a global survey of Catholics and a detailed questionnaire has been prepared. The survey will serve as a prelude to an Extraordinary Synod of Bishops, to be held in Rome in Sept 2014 to discuss matters regarding the family. This will be followed by the main Synod of Bishops, to be held in 2015, from which guidelines and recommendations will emanate.

The initiative has been widely welcomed. In an editorial entitled ‘A Truly Catholic Consultation’, the English Catholic weekly The Tablet said that “no longer refusing to heed what ordinary lay Catholics have to say about such issues as divorce and contraception be a defining mark of the Church”. The consultation, it says, amounts to admitting that this is no longer a sustainable way to run the Church.