Catholics ‘not very familiar’ with Bible’s teaching on the family

The majority of 1,590 respondents to a questionnaire sent out by Malta’s bishops have claimed they are not very familiar with the “teaching on the family in the Bible and by the Church”.

72.5% of this ‘sub-sample’ of 1,590 respondents – because over 7,000 questionnaires were actually returned to the Maltese archdiocese – said they are not familiar with Catholic teaching on while 17.4% have substantial knowledge of this teaching.

In a confirmation of Malta’s à la carte Catholicism, in 69.7% of cases the Church’s teaching on family life “is selectively accepted.”

Malta’s bishops sent out a questionnaire on behalf of the Vatican in late 2013, in a bid to study pastoral challenges facing families in line with the expressed desire of Pope Francis.

Over 7,000 questionnaires were filled and returned to Church think-tank Discern, but a preliminary report based a sub-sample of 1,590 respondents was presented today.

Discern said this still gives a strong level of significance equal to 2.45. “It’s a good representation of what the Maltese think on the subject, though there is a slight bias in favour of the older population as can be seen in the tables published on www.thechurchinmalta.org,” Discern said.

Civil unions

When asked about the attitude of the local Church towards both the State which legislates on gay unions, 26.6% said the Church had a negative attitude while 8.2% said the Church objected to a law equated equating unions with marriage and gay adoption.

“It is evident that there is no clear understanding about the pastoral ministry which is to be undertaken to help those who enter a civil union to live in the love of God and the Christian Faith,” Discern said.

29.8% said that all children should treated with equal love and respect, and taht children adopted by gays in a civil union should be treated with the same respect as regards their Baptism and in catechism classes.

One the other hand, 30.9% think that people living in an irregular marriage expect the Church to treat their children in a similar manner as the children of those married by the Church; and 19.2% of respondents expect the Church to forgive them and allow them to receive the Sacraments.

Marriage and church attendance

The teaching that marriage is “a sacrament implying fidelity, exclusivity and indissolubility” is accepted but 18.8% find it difficult to follow particularly its teaching on contraception and birth control (15.8%).

Participation at Mass remains a priority for Maltese and Gozitan Catholics: 65.2% attend mass on Sundays and 53.1% attend frequently; others, amounting to 8.5% said that sometimes they attend mass.

But these figures contrast with results of the mass attendance censuses held by the Church. “It is obvious that both human error, statistical, margin of error and the fact that answering a question may be considered too confidential, census results are always considered to be more accurate than those based on a sample. In this specific case, mass census was essentially a headcount of those present on a particular Sunday,” Discern said.

43.3% think that the fact that cohabitating couples are not allowed to receive communion is a cause of pain; though 14.7% think that they do feel such pain. A high percentage – 35.2% – said that they do not know how these couples feel about this. A high percentage of the Maltese are of the opinion that the Church is concerned about the fact that the divorced and remarried wish to receive Holy Communion.

This study indicated that 75% of respondents think that if the process of marriage annulment were to be faster, it will help persons whose first marriage has failed; while 10.9% that this will make the situation a bit better. 41.4% said that they do not know whether the Church is doing anything to help the divorced and remarried to remain close to God.