The Vatican is asking bishops around the world to find out what Roman Catholics think about church teachings in some controversial areas, including birth control, divorce, and same-sex marriage.
Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, secretary-general of the Vatican's Synod of Bishops, sent out the survey October 18 and asked bishops to have the results by the end of January.
The Vatican document said there are "many new situations requiring the Church's attention," including same-sex union adoptions, polygamy, mixed or inter-religious marriage, an increase in the practice of surrogate motherhood, and "forms of feminism hostile to the Church."
It is not clear how Catholic bishops will respond to the directive.
A spokeswoman for the U.S.bishops conference, Helen Osman, said in an email Thursday "Each U.S. bishop will determine what will be the most useful way of gathering information to provide to Rome."
The Bishops Conference of England and Wales has posted a survey online that Catholics in their countries can use to answer the questions.
Included among the questions are "How is God's mercy proclaimed to separated, divorced and remarried couples?" and "How can churches respond when gays seek a religious education or Holy communion for their children?"
The results of the worldwide survey will be discussed at a Vatican synod on the family in October 2014, presided over by Pope Francis. A second meeting will be held in 2015.
adapted from Reuters and VOA
