July 13, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – Eighty-five percent reject the Catholic Church’s position on contraception and 88 percent reject the Church’s policy of refusing access to the sacraments for the divorced and remarried, claims a body of Catholics in the UK following the results of their survey ahead of October’s Synod on the Family, to be held at the Vatican.
And 256 out of 342 respondents disagreed with the statement that “Sex lives always open to having children.” In the additional comments given for this question, only two respondents stated they were supportive of official church teaching.
Some of the answers given in the survey include “Humanae vitae has caused enormous problems,” “How the couple [spaces children] is a matter for their individual consciences,” and “Our sex lives are not the business of the church.”
Speaking on the responses to three survey questions around homosexuality, the report’s commentator argues, “The majority opinion is that homosexual love is valid, that same-sex marriage should not be opposed, and certainly not accorded the high priority that a campaign against it has been given. Catholics are looking for a more inclusive, welcoming and accepting approach towards homosexuals and homosexual relationships.”
The authors of the report, Andrew Hornsby-Smith and Diane Russell, claim the project was conducted “in a spirit of critical loyalty.”
A Call to Action, the notorious group of laity, religious, and clergy recently published the final report of its questionnaire survey, and say they’re sending copies to the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales.
“The smell of the sheep: Catholic opinion in England & Wales in preparation for the Synod on the Family, October 2015” was carried out between February and May 2015. A total of 342 people responded to a series of 54 questions. Ninety-seven percent of respondents described themselves as Roman Catholic.
In its executive summary, the report also claims:
- 55 percent rejected the idea that the church was right to oppose same-sex “marriage.”
- 84 percent agreed with the statement “Love is love, whether it is heterosexual or homosexual. We could learn a lot from homosexual couples.”
- 94 percent agreed that the church needed to be more welcoming to those in “irregular” relationships.
- 93 percent felt the Church should be more tolerant of couples who cohabit before marriage.
However, the authors admit, “It would be incorrect to claim that these results are a representative sample of churchgoers.”
Nearly half (49.4 percent) of those who completed the survey were over 71 years old, while 37.6 percent were in the 56-70 age bracket.
“There are probably academic flaws, and certainly editorial infelicities that occasion this document,” said Hornsby-Smith.
One question, number 48, directly addresses the issues of abortion, which asked respondents if they agreed or disagreed with the statement “Abortion is wrong unless the mother’s life is in danger?”
Hornsby-Smith revealed they had “received criticism from a leading member of the clergy for including this question, and, at one stage it looked as if the whole promotion of the questionnaire was in jeopardy as a result of this criticism.”
“The intervention was in part successful in limiting the availability of the questionnaire, and it has consequently reduced the number of responses.”
He claims the question was not intended to represent official Catholic “policy,” nor to mislead the faithful.
“If that is the impression, we regret it; and we acknowledge that we were given tacit support from other members of the clergy to proceed with the questionnaire.”
ACTA was started by Fathers Ian Byrnes, John Lally, Patrick McLaughlin, Frank Nally, Derek Reeve, Joe Ryan, and Paul Sanders with a letter in The Tablet, considered by many as the main outlet for dissent against Church teachings on sexuality in England. Initial meetings at Jesuit-run Heythrop College London drew around 70 priests and deacons, and 400 laity at a second meeting. The group boasts 2,000 members.
While ACTA leaders claim to be concerned with dialogue and structural changes only, others cite evidence of the group’s clear dissent on a number of Church teachings.
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Describing the views of the majority of ACTA members, leadership team member for media John Wilkins wrote, “We think Humanae Vitae should be revised” in The way Ahead, a preparatory document for ACTA’s national delegates meeting held earlier this year.
At least one Catholic bishop, Michael Campbell, OSA, of the diocese of Lancaster, has publicly denounced the group. Writing on his blog in March 2015, he stated: “A small but vocal interest or lobby group self-styled A Call to Action (ACTA)…appears to espouse positions – at times and among others – in opposition to the defined teaching of the Catholic Church on faith and morals.”
“I need to make it clear here that in my judgement, as Diocesan Bishop, ACTA moves well beyond its self-described aim of ‘dialogue’ on controversial issues on its agenda and so does not provide an assured authentic forum or interpretation of sound Catholic teaching and sound pastoral practice in this Diocese…This particular pressure group has no approval or recognition from the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Lancaster.”
The group has invited self-described Catholic pro-abortion and pro-gay marriage politician John Cruddas MP as guest speaker for the ACTA annual conference in October.