Report on Results of Questionnaire for Synod on the Family - German Bishops

Sep 21, 2026

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German Bishops’ conference publishes a summary of responses to a Vatican preparatory questionnaire for the extraordinary Synod on the Family. The report highlights a noticeable gap between official Catholic teaching on marriage, sexuality, and family life and what Catholics—including active parish members—personally believe. Key areas include premarital cohabitation, the divorced and remarried, birth control, and homosexuality, with broad participation shaping the overall conclusions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

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Report on Results of Questionnaire for Synod on the Family

Key findings on beliefs vs church teaching

Focus areas: cohabitation, divorced and remarried, birth control, homosexuality

Sources and preparation process for the Synod

CNS doCumentary serVIce ,- )-) "In most cases where the church’steaching is known,it is onlyselectively accepted.” and about 20 German Catholic organiza-tions and institutions to a Vatican question-naire published in preparation for October'sextraordinary Synod of Bishops on the fam-ily."Most of the baptized have an image ofthe church on the one hand that is family-friendly in its attitude,while at the same timeconsidering her sexual morality to be unreal-istic,"the German survey found.The reportsaid Catholics accept the church's vision ofmarriage as a lifelong union of a man anda woman open to having children,and hopeto realize that vision in their own family.However;the German dioceses reported that"premarital unions'are not only a relevantpastoral reality but one which is almost uni-versal,"since between 90 percent and 100 per-cent of couples who seek a Catholic weddingare already living together despite churchteaching that sex outside of marriage is sin-ful."Many in fact consider it irresponsible tomarry without living together beforehand,"the report said.The summary said many ofthe respondents supported a 2013 initiativeof the Archdiocese of Freiburg to encouragedivorced and remarried couples to speak to alocal priest about their situation,suggestingthat their status could be resolved as amatterof personal conscience.The report follows. # Report on Resultsof Questionnairefor Synod on theFamily German Bishops A report from the bishops'conference ofGermany shows a clear divergence betweenwhat the church teaches on marriage,sexu-ality and family life and what Catholics —even those active in parish life —personallybelieve.The differences are seen “above allwhen it comes to premarital cohabitation,(the status of the)divorced and remarried,birth control and homosexuality,"said theGerman bishops'report,posted Feb.3 on theirconference website in German,Italian andEnglish.The text is a summary of the officialresponses from all of Germany's 27 dioceses his summary is based on respons-es from the 27 German diocesesand archdioceses as well as onthose from roughly 20 well-knownCatholic associations and institutions. Owing to the short survey period thatcontinued on page 618 The German bishops'reportwas in response to thepreparatory document forthe extraordinary Synod ofBishops on the family thatwill be held in October at theVatican. That document can be fonndin Origins,Vol.43,No.25,theedition dated Nov.21,2013. In 1993,tlhe tlhree bishopsof the German ecclesiasti-cal province of the UpperRline urged greater pastoralministry to divorced and todivorced-and-remarried per-sons in a joint pastoral letterwidely reported for its callfor a pastoral dialogue wunithindividuals who are divorcedand remarried regardingtheir participation in thesacranents. It was issuted by Bishop(nowCardinal)Karl Lelnann ofMainz,then-president of theGerinan bishops'conference;Archbishop Oskar Saier ofFreiburg,conference vicepresident;and Bislop(nowCardinal)Walter Kasper ofRuttenburg-Stuttgart "Christians sliould be intlre forefront of the strugglefor successful marriages oflifelong fidelity,"the bishopssaid.They called on Catholicsto "work against the trendthat would regard divorceand remarriage as somethingnormal." The bishops commented thatanyone who admits divorced-and-remarried people tothe eucharistic feast "does socontrary to the order of thechurch."But,they added,"itought to be clarified througlipastoral dialogue whethertlat which is generally validapplies also ina given situ-ation." They cautioned,"We must ofcourse be clear that there can-not be a simple,smooth solu-tion to the coniplex situationsof divorced-and-remarriedpeople,"adding that the graceof reconciliation must not bemade "clieap grace."The bish-ops said,"Neither an exag-gerated strictness nor a weakflexibility will help." The letter appeared in Origins,Vol.23,No.38,the 618 origins continued from page 617 known in detail or are only known to a fewpeople and

FAQs

What does the German bishops’ report summarize?

It summarizes official responses from Germany’s 27 dioceses and archdioceses, plus inputs from about 20 Catholic associations and institutions.

Which topics show a divergence between church teaching and Catholics’ personal beliefs?

The report points to premarital cohabitation, the divorced and remarried, birth control, and homosexuality as major areas of difference.

How does the report relate its findings to the Synod on the Family?

It states the responses were collected in preparation for the extraordinary Synod held in October at the Vatican, based on the preparatory document.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Miles