Pope Francis has called a meeting of bishops from around the world to discuss the present state of family life in relation to Catholic teaching and pastoral practice. He has initiated a worldwide consultation, seeking to discover what Catholics actually think and do in relation to important issues. Each diocese will seek to elicit the information, and forward it to Rome for the end of January.

The archdiocese of Luxembourg is currently preparing its response to the Holy Father’s request, and hopes to have a consultation in place by the end of November. As soon as details of this are released, they will be published here (as elsewhere). In the meantime, you can find the survey, along with supporting documentation, on the website of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales: Family Life Consultation. The questionnaire is quite detailed, and some parts complex — so advance preparation is recommended.

A consultation exercise on this scale is unprecedented in the Church, and it will be interesting to follow its course. Topics covered in the survey include: living together before marriage; divorced and re-married Catholics; same-sex unions; contraception and adoption.