Vatican City, Nov 4, 2013 / 14:46 pm
The director of the Holy See press office has clarified that Pope Francis has not presented a questionnaire to Catholics worldwide to consult on homosexual unions and divorced persons, as some news outlets have reported.
This assertion, made by Italian daily il Fatto Quotidiano among others, is "not true" and in fact the basis is "only a document sent to bishops' conferences throughout the world by the secretary general of the synod of bishops, Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, in preparation for the synod of bishops," Fr. Federico Lombardi told CNA Nov. 2.
He added that the synod, which will be held Oct. 5-19, 2014, will be dedicated to "the pastoral challenges of the family in the context of evangelization." The synod will focus on pastoral responses to the problems of divorce and gay marriage, as well as other challenges to the health of families.
But on Nov. 1, the National Catholic Reporter characterized the document sent to bishops' conferences as "a Vatican survey asking (Catholics') opinions on church teachings."