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Document Details : Title: Reaktionen auf den vatikanischen Fragebogen zur Familienpastoral in Deutschland Author(s): HILPERT, Konrad Journal: Marriage, Families & Spirituality Volume: 20 Issue: 1 Date: 2014 Pages: 49-53 DOI: 10.2143/INT.20.1.3036693 Abstract : Despite unclarities about the authors’ expectations, and despite its intentionally unrepresentative character, the Vatican questionnaire met with considerable interest in Germany among the diocesan bishops, the Catholics, and many lay bodies and associations. Taken together, the evaluations clearly display a marked divergence between the stances of many Catholics and the official positions on sexual morality. But there is also a basic agreement about the principle of the church’s championing of the idea of a sacramental bond for life that includes fidelity, exclusiveness, and openness to new life. It is striking that the responses to the questionnaire also include criticism and expectations addressed to the church as an authority and an agent in moral matters. We could summarize as follows: Instead of prohibitions and severity, people want encouragement, support, and accompaniment. The faithful wish, not so much to receive instructions from on high, as to feel that they are taken seriously and accepted together with the reality of their own lives, and that they will receive compassionate treatment even when they experience failure. |
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