The Church cannot conform her ‘pastoral practice’ to the dictates of the world

Then the Lord God formed man out of the dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7)

March 14, 2014 (HLI) – As a Catholic priest of nearly twenty-one years and president of an international pro-life organization, I am very concerned with the results of two recent surveys. By their nature, these types of surveys provide only a snapshot, and often hide an agenda, but I believe they both demand a closer look given the societal pressures on the Church and on the natural institution of the family.

Pew Research-Catholics Support Changes to Church Teachings
The first survey is from the well-respected Pew Research Center, revealing that 77% of U.S. Catholics polled believe the Catholic Church should allow its members to use birth control, and that a majority believe the Church should allow its priests to marry (72%) and want to ordain women as priests (68%). The second was released by the German Bishops Conference, its data reflecting a response to a Vatican survey in preparation for the Synod on the Family in October. Though the survey revealed that German Catholics accepted and respected the Church’s teaching on stable marriages and family life, it also revealed an overwhelming rejection of the Church’s teaching on pre-marital relations, co-habitation, homosexuality and Communion for those who are remarried after divorce. According to the survey, Germans found the Church’s teaching on sexual morality “unrealistic and heartless.” The bishops called the results “a sober inventory of what German Catholics appreciate about Church teaching on marriage and the family and what they find off-putting or unacceptable, either mostly or completely.”