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’s questionnaire, responding to the Holy Father’s request for consultation may be found here. The survey in English, along with supporting documentation, on the website of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales can be found here: Family Life Consultation. The questionnaire is quite detailed, and some parts complex — so advance preparation is recommended. Please, if possible, respond to the Luxembourg consultation. Don’t worry if you find some parts of the questionnaire not relevant to your situation, or difficult to understand — answer the sections you wish to, and are able to, complete.

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.

The archdiocese has forwarded a letter from the archbishop, along with the official Preparation Documents (‘lineaments’) inEnglish and inFrench. There is a letter from the Archbishop, and finally, the questionnaire.